Reunion
by RositaLG
Summary: You are cordially invited to The Chilton Academy's class of 2003 10 year reunion...Trory
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing. AND I am graduating this year and thus, have a huge senior capstone project so my writing on this might be sparse, but I can't stop writing or I die, so as soon as I finish a project, I start another one, which leads me to procrastinate on the rest of my life but... (Takes deep breath) At any rate, here you go! Enjoy!

A/N: For my purpose, Gigi is 8 years old. It's not the same as the show but whatever. It's Fanfiction!

"Don't worry, Gig. Rory's going to be right here with you the whole time okay?" Chris said as he kissed his two daughters. Rory was helping out because Chris had to run to the office for a meeting. She was sitting in a pediatric hospital waiting room. Gigi was getting a cast off of her arm that she had acquired 6 weeks ago from falling out of a neighbor's tree house. Chris was reluctant to leave his baby girl, but Rory had volunteered to go with her since she had previous cast removal experience. "And when you are done, we'll go get ice cream." He winked at Rory.

"Georgia Hayden?" The nurse called them back.

"That's us." Rory said as she waved her hand at the nurse. Gigi and Rory walked back and were placed in a room with a small hand saw, but it was all that Gigi needed to get freaked out.

"Is that the saw?" She asked quietly.

"Yep." Rory nodded.

"It looks sharp." Next came the quivering chin.

"Don't worry, your doctor uses it every day. And he's never cut anyone."

"How do you know?" She shot Rory a dirty look.

"Because they don't let doctors cut arms off unless we have a parent's permission first." The doctor said as he came into the room. He winked at the scared little girl on his examining table. She smiled, although briefly. "I'm Dr. DuGray." He said as he glanced at Rory. She paused to examine him, no pun intended. He looked good, sure of himself.

"Rory Gilmore. This little daredevil is my half-sister Gigi Hayden." At the sound of her name, his head snapped up. He had been so preoccupied reading the chart that he hadn't actually looked at the brunette in the corner.

"Hi." He said, trying to get his senses back. "This is the last place in the world I expected to see you. Not that I expected to see you anywhere." She laughed at his fumblings. At least he seemed sure of himself up until now. He decided to stop while he was behind and turned his attention to his patient. "Gigi huh?" He asked, changing the subject.

"That's my nickname. My full name is Georgia Grace Hayden. Two G's." She explained as she held up two fingers.

"And what did you do to deserve this lovely pink cast?" He asked.

"I fell out of a tree house."

"Hmm, sounds painful. Are you ready to free that arm of yours?" She nodded. "Alright, let's do it." Gigi reached out for Rory's hand as Tristan started the saw.

"Close your eyes." Rory suggested. Gigi shook her head. Rory kept an eye on both Tristan's focused face and Gigi's determinedly brave face. "All done!" Rory said as he turned off the saw.

"See, and I even let you keep the arm." He smiled at Rory who mouthed a thank you. He nodded. "Okay Gigi, give 'er a twist." She moved her wrist and fingers as Tristan placed his hand on her arm and watched for something. Apparently satisfied with the results, he opened a drawer filled to the brim with candy.

"Wow." Gigi said. "That's a lot of candy."

"It's my secret stash. I keep it for my particularly brave patients. I think that you fall under that category. Go ahead."

"Really?" She asked, looking at Rory to see if it was okay.

"Really." He laughed. "Does your sister want some too?" He asked Rory.

"Why thank you Dr. DuGray." She said, taking a sucker but keeping their eyes locked. "Gigi, what do you say?"

"Thank you Dr. DuGray."

"You're very welcome. Did you learn a lesson about falling out of tree houses?" She nodded readily. "Good! Okay, now get out of here." She hopped down and ran out of the room.

"You trying to keep the business running?" She guessed. He shook his head.

"College roommate became a dentist." She smiled and bit her lip.

"Bye Dr. DuGray." Rory said as she winked at Tristan on the way out the door.

"Bye Mary." He said. Rory inwardly squealed but never turned around, preferring to let him watch her walk away.

OOOOO

"So do you think he's going to call?" Lorelei asked as she set down her coffee mug. Rory had made a quick trip to Stars Hollow to visit her mother for the weekend.

"I don't know why he would. It's not like I gave him my number."

"But you want him to?" Rory just smiled and took a sip of her coffee.

"Maybe? It was just so weird. I haven't seen him since the Romeo and Juliet play and now, all of a sudden, he just appears and we have this instantaneous chemistry."

"Chemistry?"

"Talking with him was like…playing tennis. Everything I served him with came back just as strong." Lorelei looked skeptical.

"Have you ever played tennis?" She asked.

"Beside the point." Rory said as she rolled her eyes. "It's like he knew what I was going to say before I said it."

"Well, maybe you should call him." She suggested.

"What?"

"You don't find a hot, rich, pediatrician very often." Lorelei smiled as Luke came by the table.

"What are you smiling at?" He asked as he refilled their cups.

"Rory found the perfect man but she's too scared to call him." Luke immediately walked away without a word, clearly not wanting to know anything else. Rory scoffed.

"I am not too scared to call him. I just don't have his number!"

"You could get his number." Lorelei said.

"How?"

"Leave a number for him at work, you've been there. You could drop by again." Rory rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to stalk him at his work. I barely know him."

"You could call my mother." Lorelei suggested. "She knows everyone in Hartford."

"I'd rather not."

"What about Paris, isn't she a doctor in Hartford?" Rory nodded. "She has to know his number."

"If Paris knew Tristan was back in Hartford, I would have heard his name before."

"Not necessarily. Wasn't she really hell-bent on keeping the two of you apart back at Chilton? Maybe she's still harboring secret feelings for him."

"She's married." Lorelei shrugged, preferring her own idea better.

"Can't it be one of those 'If it's meant to be, it will be' kind of things where we run into each other again at the supermarket or something."

"Isn't that what you would call running into him at the hospital after years of not seeing him?" Rory sighed. "Just think about it." She asked.

"I will."

OOOOO

Tristan strolled down the street, briefcase in hand and a lot on his mind. Well, actually, only one thing was on his mind. He had never expected to see Rory Gilmore set foot in his office, let alone for her to still be in Hartford. In his mind, and yes, he had admittedly thought about her from time to time, she was doing something fantastic somewhere. Saving the world, or maybe just reporting about it, in some far off country. It was no secret that she wanted two things in high school: to be a Harvard grad and to be a foreign correspondent. He had only wanted two things as well: sex and attention, usually from two different people.

When he had agreed to finish his residency in Hartford, it was so he could see his mom more. His father had died from a heart attack last year and Tristan didn't mind coming home anymore. He knew that his mom would want him closer now that she was alone. He never thought about the chances of running into people that he used to know. Walking into the apartment he now called home, Tristan pushed the answering machine button and shifted through the bills in his hand.

"Tristan, this is your mother. I ran into…" Tristan didn't hear any more before he zoned out. In his hand was the invitation for Chilton's ten-year high school reunion. He figured he wouldn't get an invite because he didn't actually graduate from Chilton. It was signed Paris Gellar and Rory Gilmore. Apparently they had become friends after he left, or at least tolerated each other enough to rule the school together. That meant that Rory was going to be there. Smiling, he was suddenly very thankful that his mother gave out his address.

OOOOO

"Paris, where is the RSVP list for the reunion?" Rory asked as she sat down on the couch in the Gellar-McMaster household.

"On the coffee table. I had everything organized but Doyle decided to 'clean' the house, whatever the Hell that means." She said as she sat down.

"Have you heard from everyone?" Rory asked as she read the almost complete list.

"Just about everyone. Even Tristan DuGray sent in his RSVP." Rory nearly choked.

"I didn't send an invitation to Tristan." She pointed out.

"I know, which is why I went over the list that you gave me and sent invitations to everyone you forgot."

"He didn't graduate with us! Why is he coming to a reunion of a class he wasn't actually in?"

"Seriously Gilmore, I expected more from you." Rory would have rolled her eyes but she was too shocked. "Why do you look green?"

"I didn't tell you, but I kind of ran into Tristan a couple weeks ago." Paris stopped.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he took the cast off of Gigi's arm."

"He's in Peds?"

"Apparently."

"That's sad. I always pictured him being a jock, you know, like a surgeon or something."

"He seemed pretty happy with his decision."

"So did he ask you out?" Paris asked.

"No, we didn't even talk that much. He was a little busy doing his job." Rory excused it.

"Oh come on, he was so obsessed with you in high school, you can't tell me that there wasn't anything there. No flirting or anything?"

"Maybe a little covert flirting." She said. "But nothing ever came from it."

"Well, maybe he's attending so he can make something _come of it_." Paris was being overtly dirty.

"You're worse than he is." Rory said with a cringe.

OOOOO

"Wow, you look pretty!" Lorelei said as she caught Rory leaving her apartment.

"Thanks. What are you doing here?"

"I was just wanted to tell you that you are beautiful, you are successful, and there is nothing wrong with you." Rory looked at her mother like she was crazy.

"Okay?" She said as she got in her car.

"Trust me, you're about to go in the big scary building with all the super successful students. It's going to be like your first day all over again. Everyone is going to be telling all these fabulous stories about that trip to Bermuda and that Porsche in the garage, most of which is complete bullshit by the way, and you're going to feel like you've failed at life. But you haven't. You're wonderful."

"Thanks." Rory said as she fixed her lipgloss in the side view mirror. "Is that all?"

"Uh-huh. Oh and I brought you this…" It was her old Chilton uniform.

"Why?"

"Just in case things end up working out with the Pediatrician." She said with a wink.

"Gotta go, can't be late." She said as she started her car. She loved her mom, but sometimes…she was just too much. She was halfway to Chilton when her mother's words started to sink in. It was bad enough that she was going to have to be surrounded by her high school peers, but they all knew her history with Tristan, or lack thereof. The pressure was definitely on. What were people going to think when he started hitting on her again…what if he didn't hit on her at all? What if he brought a wife? She had thought about that a lot these past two weeks. It was very possible that he was seeing someone and that was why he never called her. Maybe he just wasn't interested. Her mind was racing as she pulled into the parking lot. Taking a deep breath, she opened her car door and stepped out into the warm July air. It was particularly humid tonight, making the tension in the air that much more palpable. She had barely made it through the doors when she heard a familiar voice.

"Rory!" Louise was waving her over to one of the tables.

"Louise!"

"I haven't seen you since Spring Break! How are you?"

"Fantastic."

"We are at a great table where we can see just about everyone and everyone can see us. Thank you for that." Rory laughed.

"Paris actually spent a lot of time making the seating arrangements for everyone, so thank her for the lovely table."

"Madelyn!" She yelled over Rory's shoulder. Once the greeting had ended, Maddie and Louise sat down at the table.

"Madelyn, you, me, Paris, who's the sixth?" She said, noticing the empty chair next to Rory. Before she could answer, a voice came from behind her.

"That would be me."


	2. Chapter 2

Previously on Gilmore Girls:

_Previously on Gilmore Girls:_

"_Madelyn, you, me, Paris, who's the sixth?" She said, noticing the empty chair next to Rory. Before she could answer, a voice came from behind her. _

"_That would be me."_

"Brad!" Louise faked her enthusiasm.

"Nice to see you again." Rory said. "Come. Sit."

"Oh, I can't stay long. I've got a show tomorrow."

"Still doing the Broadway thing?" He nodded.

"I just thought I'd drop by and say hello to everyone."

"Hello." Paris said coldly. Doyle looked over at her and she shrugged like she had done nothing wrong.

"Paris. Great party." She just smiled. The eerie quiet from her scared him more than any of her comebacks. "Well, I better be going. It was great seeing you all."

"Bye Brad." Rory said with a sympathetic smile.

"Let's dance." Doyle suggested as he stood up from the table. Paris grabbed his hand and took off for the dance floor.

"He seems the same. It's kind of sad." Maddie said. Rory looked around the party before turning around to face the rest of the table. "Who you looking for?"

"Anyone I recognize." She said honestly.

"Well then, turn your attention to who just walked through the door." Rory glanced at Maddie and turned around again. Tristan was looking around the room when his old group of friends spotted him first and went over to meet him. Politely talking to them, he glanced over and saw Rory watching him. Giving her a smile, he kept talking to the pinheads he used to call friends.

"Oh he looks good." Louise said. "I wonder what he does."

"He's a pediatrician." Rory said, facing the group again. The table got quiet. "What? He just took the cast off of my half-sister's arm."

"We should have known." Louise leaned over to whisper to Maddie. "How could we not have seen this coming."

"They always did have good chemistry,"

"He's coming over." They watched as he walked over to the table.

"Ladies."

"Hi Tristan. I must say, I'm surprised to see you here." Madelyn said.

"I was surprised to receive an invitation, but I figured since I was in town, why not?"

"Living here?" Louise asked.

"Just moved back a couple months ago."

"Rory tells us you are a pediatrician now?" He nodded and glanced at Rory briefly. "That's cool."

"Oooh, men, ten o'clock." Maddie and Louise both looked around Tristan. "Excuse us." Tristan laughed.

"And away they go." He muttered with a small smile.

"Some things never change." She said as he sat down next to her.

"You're not here with anyone?" He asked. She shook her head. "I find that hard to believe."

"What about you?" He shrugged.

"What about me?" He wanted to hear her ask.

"Are you here with anyone?" She obliged him, even though she knew that he was teasing her.

"I'm here with you." He said, unabashedly trying to make her smile. She rolled her eyes.

"I walked right into that one."

"Kinda, yeah." He smiled and they stared at each other just a little too long. The butterflies in Rory's stomach unnerved her to no end. Wanting to change the subject to something neutral, Rory broke the moment.

"So Gigi's arm is much better." Tristan looked at his shoes for a moment, knowing why she changed the subject. He didn't know what to think about the move and what it meant.

"Oh, good. That's good." Rory was surprised when he looked a little upset.

"Tristan! Come on, we're gonna head out, you should come with us." His buddies were beckoning him from across the room. He stole a glance at Rory.

"Yeah, go ahead." She said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go have fun." She said, too laid back for Tristan's liking. Not having a reason to stay, Tristan decided to leave, but he wasn't going to hang out with the boys. He was going home to contemplate what the Hell had just happened. Rory watched him go and inwardly cursed herself. She didn't know why she had acted the way she did, but she hated the feeling like she was never going to see him again.

OOOOO

"Tristan, wait!" She cried as she ran out the door to stop him from leaving. "Don't go." She threw herself into his arms and he kissed her passionately.

Okay, so that's what he wanted to happen. What really happened was slightly different. And by slightly, he meant massively. She didn't chase him out of the building. She didn't call him later that night. She didn't call later that week. He checked his phone calls so much that even his receptionist was concerned that he was losing his mind.

OOOOO

"I blew it." Rory said to Paris.

"I don't have time to worry about your lack of a love life. I've got open heart surgery in ten minutes."

"Well, then, will you tell me what to do next?"

"Call him, the poor kid is probably waiting by the phone."

"I blew him off like he was nothing, I hardly doubt that he would wait by the phone."

"Then you've never met Tristan DuGray. I have to go." Paris said, hanging up the phone.

"Bye." She muttered into the empty receiver. Hanging up, she quickly dialed a new number. One that she had acquired from Paris. After waiting for a couple rings, he picked up.

"DuGray." He said, sounding busy.

"Hey Tristan, it's Rory." The silence on the other end of the phone led her to continue the conversation. "How are you?"

"I'm good, just a little distracted. I'm sorry." He admitted, shaking his head of the thoughts that were plaguing his mind. "How are you?"

"If this is a bad time I could call back later?"

"No, no. It's fine. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression at the reunion. It was really good running into you again."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"I've been obsessing over it all week and I don't know, I think being back in that environment brought out the old me. The one that cares what everyone else at the table thinks. Which is ridiculous because you've obviously changed as much as I have. I'm not that girl anymore. So I don't know what my brain was thinking, but it was thinking none the less."

"Breathe Gilmore." He said, with a chuckle.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I hope we can be friends."

"Friends huh?" He said. "I could do that." I think, he added to himself.

"Good."

"But I don't know if you can." He added. "Women love me."

"Really? Love you?" She asked, clearly not believing him.

"They can't keep their hands off of me…really. It's enough to make a man feel guilty." She rolled her eyes.

"Goodbye Tristan." She said. He could hear her disdain through the phone and it made him happy. What was it about this girl when she was annoyed? It brought out the fire in her eyes, which was as much as a turn-on as he could get with her. She always pretended to be mad but you could always tell she was excited by the thought of sparring with him. Sighing, he opened up the chart in front of him. He didn't have time to think about what their relationship status was…he had children to save.

OOOOO

Rory sighed as she thought about what she had said. She had offered to be friends. She didn't really want to be friends, but she couldn't come right out and say that to him, that would be weird. So they would be friends. Maybe she would call him over for dinner with a bunch of friends. That would be a good way to break the ice. The only problem was that all of her friends were couples and that would inevitably lead to them being paired off. In fact, every event that Rory thought of inviting him to ended up the same way. Until she thought of one event that wouldn't lead to that scenario. It might be worse, but what the Hell. It just might work out in her favor.

OOOOO

Tristan looked in the mirror one last time before getting out of his car. He had no idea where he was, but he had followed the directions she had given him and it had led to a park. It was a very well hidden park that was surrounded by forest. Starting to think that maybe she was going to kill him and make it look like an accident, he began looking around for a sign of life. He heard music coming from a distance so he followed his ears to the scene of the party. Sure enough, there were tons of people in jeans and dresses. It was a picnic, albeit a very expensive picnic. Rory spotted him and ran over with a wave.

"You made it!" She said, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure I was in the right spot."

"It's a little hidden."

"What is all of this?"

"It's a picnic for some friends of mine. Come on over, I'll introduce you." Taking his hand she led him over to a table.

"Boys," she yelled at them to get their attention. "this is Tristan DuGray, we went to Chilton together. Tristan this is Finn Roberts, Collin McCrae, Logan Huntzberger and Stephanie Edwards." They all waved, except Logan. He didn't seem to like the fact that Tristan was there. Noting the look he was given, Tristan smiled.

"Nice to meet you all."

"You didn't tell us you were bringing an outsider Ace." Logan said, feigning politeness.

"I didn't think I had to, it's not like it's an actual event." Tristan put two and two together.

"Don't worry guys, I won't tell. I come from a long line of Princeton LDB'ers." He said, surprising them all. "That is what this event is, isn't it? An alumni reunion?" Rory smiled and nodded.

"Look at you Sherlock Holmes."

"Well, there are very few reasons for trust fund types to be hiding in the woods." Steph nodded to Rory, clearly approving.

"I'm going to get a drink, Tristan, would you like something?" Finn asked.

"Sure, I'll come with you. You need anything?" He pointed at Rory's glass, but she shook her head. "Okay, be right back." Once they were at a safe distance, Tristan took one last look at Logan. "So what's the deal with Huntzberger and Rory?"

"Oh, it goes way back." Finn said as he handed him his beer.

"And?"

"They were engaged." Tristan choked on the beer.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, they dated for three years back at Yale. At Rory's graduation party, he proposed and she accepted."

"So what happened?"

"Well, Logan got a job in California, Rory got a job in Hartford. They did the long distance thing for a few months before Rory realized she didn't actually want to marry the poor bloke. She never trusted him after he…well, he didn't appreciate what he had."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, Logan was devastated, because by this time he really was in love with her. Rory was devastated, because Logan was devastated. There was a path of devastation." He said, his arm sweeping across the top of the bar dramatically. "But, they've seen each other once a year since then at these parties and they always make nice. Just don't be surprised if Logan doesn't take a liking to you."

"No kidding."

"And you and Reporter girl, you're dating?"

"Reporter girl?" Tristan chuckled. Finn nodded. "No, we aren't. We just re-met a couple of weeks ago. I was crazy about her in High school though. But she was a total Mary back then." It was Finn's turn to spit out his beer.

"Our girl, a Mary?" He said, shocked. Tristan nodded.

"Oh yeah, she was the valedictorian, the small town girl in the big bad society school. She wanted nothing to do with any of us, especially me. But of course, I did everything under the sun to get with her. She let me kiss her once, but I got shipped off to military school and I never saw her again."

"She obviously likes you now if she invited you here."

"I don't know, we'll see."

"Well, I'd put in a good word for you, but I don't know you. Plus, it would destroy any loyalty I have for my best mate." He said, walking back to the table.

"I understand." Finn nodded to get him to shut up before anyone overheard their conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

"There you are

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls but I do own the word banteress…I think.

"There you are. I saved you a seat." Rory said, moving over for him.

"Finn filled me in." He whispered in her ear. "Do you want to sell this?" Nodding, Rory smiled. He was going to play along. Logan watched the back of Tristan's head and monitored Rory's grin. He did not like this guy, at all.

"So Tristan, tell us a little about yourself." Logan said.

"Well, I graduated from UNC, Pre-med. Did Med school at Johns Hopkins for Pediatrics. I actually spent my internship and first year of residency in Baltimore, but then my dad got sick and died a few months later so I moved back to Hartford. I'm finishing out my residency at the Hartford Children's hospital."

"Oh, that's so cute. You get to save little sick kids every day." Steph said with a sigh. Tristan smiled.

"I like it. It means I don't have to grow up." Rory rolled her eyes.

"Then you've found the perfect career." She said with a wink and a smile. "No, that's actually how we met again." Rory said, holding his hand. "I went in with Gigi to get her cast taken off and there he was…"she said, looking him in the eye. This time she let the feeling in her stomach linger as he smiled at her.

"You were still the spitfire banteress that I remembered."

"We always did play poorly with one another. It was like I had never left."

"Did you two date in high school?" Collin asked, despite the fact that he could feel Logan's laser vision burning a hole in the side of his head.

"No, but he tried." She said with a giggle.

"It's true, she wouldn't give me the time of day. I was an evil society boy who was going to corrupt her with my money and charm." He grinned.

"Ah, that's so not true! I was a conquest. The only girl left in the school who you hadn't been out on a date with."

"You could never be a conquest." He said honestly. "Remember the piano bench at Maddie's party?" Rory turned a bright shade of red.

"Don't…please."

"What? What happened?" Finn was enthralled.

"Rory had broken up with her boyfriend the night before and I had just broken up with my girlfriend about two seconds before in front of, well, pretty much the whole school. So I go off into the library to get away and Rory follows me."

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You hated my guts."

"Still…I was concerned." He smiled, loving that about her.

"Anyway, we're sitting there talking about our mutual breakups and the next thing I know, we're kissing."

"You kissed me." He thought about it.

"That's probably true." He laughed.

"So why didn't you two date?" Steph asked.

"I would have asked her if she hadn't run away…crying." He said, knowing she would be humiliated by the story. Sure enough, her hands went over her eyes.

"You cried?! Was it that bad?" Steph laughed.

"Don't answer that." Tristan said.

"No! I just, I had just broken up with my first boyfriend you know? I wasn't ready to kiss another guy. I felt like a horrible person."

"We decided we would be friends." Tristan said, smoothing over her guilt as he squeezed her hand. "Until I got cast as Romeo to her Juliet. We had to recreate the famous death scene. I had to practice kissing your lifeless body over and over and over. Paris was relentless."

"You have got to be kidding me." Logan muttered to himself.

"But by this time you were back with…what was his name?"

"Dean." The crowd that was listening booed.

"God he was awful." Collin said. "Dumping you in front of everyone." Tristan glanced at Rory but she shook him off his question by changing the subject.

"But then YOU got shipped off to military school before we could perform it." She jabbed her finger into his chest.

"And I never saw you again." He said sadly.

"Until now." She smiled.

"Until now." He repeated. Logan got up and left, unable to take it any longer. His curiosity had been filled and now he knew way more than he had wanted to know.

OOOOO

"You were amazing." Rory said to Tristan.

"What?"

"Pulling all of that romantic stuff out. It was great."

"You don't have to thank me. I've had my fair share of ex-girlfriends." She nodded. "Besides, it was all true." She thought about their story. "I never told anyone we were dating, I just let them assume."

"Yeah, you're right. Our story is pretty crazy." He smiled and nodded. The sun was setting as they finally arrived back at his car. He leaned back against the driver's side door and pulled her over to him. She looked in his eyes briefly before glancing at his lips. He leaned in and kissed her slowly, but comfortably, as if they had done it a thousand times before. She pulled away and smiled.

"What was that?" She asked. He shrugged and smiled as he opened the car door. He waved to someone behind Rory as she stood there in shock. Touching her lips she turned around. Logan was walking towards her.

"Finn told me that Tristan said you weren't dating."

"We aren't." She said, defensively. "We're just good friends." He shook his head.

"You never looked at me the way you looked at him." He said as he brushed past her.

"Logan…"

"Stop it Ace. It's over, I get it, but that doesn't make it any easier." He said as he got in his car.

"I'm sorry."

"It didn't work out, it happens."

"We never got a chance to talk about it. You were in California and I was here. It wasn't right."

"But that's the way it happened."

"I really did love you." She said. He nodded.

"I know." He had always believed that if he had just treated her better from the start, they might have made it work. But he knew that she wouldn't have been happy with him, and he blamed himself.

"It wasn't anyone's fault, you know? It just happened." She said. She touched a nerve and she knew it. When she said that it wasn't anyone's fault, she meant that it wasn't his fault. "What we had, it was real, it just… wasn't permanent." Bothered by her statement, he looked away.

"Bye Ace." He said, starting up his car and swiftly driving away without another word.

OOOOO

"Why did you kiss me at the picnic?" She asked him. After their picnic date, he had called and invited her out to his house. They were taking a walk around his neighborhood after a long day of enjoying each other's company. He had expected her to bring it up a lot sooner. Smiling, he thought a minute before replying.

"Why do you think?" He said, being evasive.

"Because Logan was standing there?" She guessed. He shrugged and didn't answer her. She smiled. "It was a little above and beyond." She said taking his hand.

"Maybe."

"It was a little phenomenal too." She said, her voice getting soft. "Any chance of a repeat?" He stopped walking.

"Just say the word." He said honestly. She looked up at him, a small smile tugging on her lips. With a nod, she leaned in and kissed him again. This time, she was prepared. Her fingers toyed with the hair on the back of his neck. He deepened the kiss, his strong hands that were resting on the small of her back moved to her hips and pulled her closer. She sighed into his mouth and felt her knees go a little weak as she pressed herself against him. When breathing became vital, Tristan ended the kiss.

"That was more than a little phenomenal." He muttered, clearly out of breath.

"Can we go inside?" She asked, wanting this feeling to continue.

"Yeah." He laughed at the situation as they raced to the house. They were like teenagers all over again. Stumbling through the front door, they reached out for each other. Giggling and pulling off each other's clothes, Tristan led her to his bedroom. Falling onto the bed, Tristan pushed a section of hair out of Rory's eyes.

"Is this really happening?" She asked him.

"God I hope so." He said before kissing her intensely.

OOOOO

"You make me feel like I'm in high school." He said as he lay next to her.

"How so?"

"I don't know…nervous, desperate, completely under your spell." She smiled while he found the word. "You make me feel inadequate." He realized.

"Inadequate?" She said, trying to understand him.

"Yeah, I want you to think highly of me. Not see the old version of me, but the new me." He said. "It's like I'm trying so hard to prove to you that I'm someone new, but whenever I'm around you, I become sixteen again, which completely defeats the purpose."

"I think that tonight we clarified, twice, that you are anything but inadequate." She said with a blush. He smirked and kissed her shoulder. After a few seconds of quiet, she posed the question. "Do you think that we did this too soon?" He shook his head.

"I don't think so. It was years in the making." He said, surprised she would ask that question. "Why, do you?" He was concerned the answer was yes.

"I don't know. You make me feel…easy. You look at me and any self-restraint I had just disappears." She whispered in his ear. "I did not feel easy in high school."

"You could never be considered easy Mary." He said, pulling her towards him to prove his point.

"I slept with you after you kissed me twice." She said. "I'm not that girl. I don't just sleep with guys I've just gotten to know."

"Technically, we've kissed plenty of times. And you do know me, you know more about me then most people do. And I've never been happier than I am right now. So you can be easy and I'll be inadequate, whatever. I'm just going to lay here and enjoy this moment, because today was one of the best days I've ever had." His quiet confidence as he stopped the conversation took her by surprise.

"Well, okay then." Settling in, she acquiesced to him. It wasn't long before they were both sleeping peacefully. It wasn't much longer that Tristan awoke to the sound of his pager vibrating next to his ear.

"No." Rory said, clearly woken up by the buzz.

"Shit." Tristan said, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. Picking up his pager, it was just as he thought.

"What?"

"I've got to go." He said, sitting up. "Stay here, sleep." He said as he kissed her forehead. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Throwing on his clothes, he was out the door as quickly as he could.


	4. Chapter 4

OOOOO

He crept back into his bedroom around six the next morning. He had showered at work so he wouldn't wake Rory, but she heard him come through the door anyway.

"Hey," she said, struggling to focus her tired eyes to read the clock.

"Hey, I didn't want to wake you." He said. She shook her head and patted the bed next to her.

"You must be exhausted." Tristan didn't say anything as he crawled into bed next to her. Sensing immediately that something wasn't right, she watched his face for a moment. "That bad huh?" She asked, surprising Tristan.

"We lost two, house fire." Without asking for details, Rory kissed his forehead and ran a hand through his hair. She wrapped her arms around him, but he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Rory watched him and thought about the way he looked when he came home. She had never seen him look weak, tired, lost. She felt a surge of emotions at the sight. She wanted to take care of him and she certainly wanted him to be okay.

OOOOO

Tristan slowly stirred awake around eleven. Five hours of sleep wasn't enough after two rounds of sex and one of the hardest nights he had ever had at the hospital. There had been a house fire and the dad, who worked the late shift, had come home around midnight to find his house on fire with his wife and two kids, four and six, inside. Everyone inside had died from smoke inhalation. Tristan had to tell the father his entire life had disappeared in a few minutes. Rubbing his eyes, he figured that Rory had probably left. He sat up and walked out into the kitchen. He was starving. Sitting in the kitchen reading the Sunday Times, she smiled as he walked in.

"Good morning."

"Hi."

"Did you sleep okay?" She asked. He nodded as he kissed the top of her head.

"I wasn't expecting you to still be here." Tristan said. "You should have woken me up sooner."

"After the night you had? I don't think so. Besides I've gotten a lot done." She said, getting up and going to the coffee maker.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. She poured him a cup of coffee. "Eggs?" She asked.

"Um, sure." He said as she pulled a pan out of the oven.

"What about bacon?" She offered, putting it on the plate before he could answer.

"Ror, did you raid my kitchen?" He asked, still half-asleep.

"I just thought you would like some food when you woke up. I was starving and I didn't even go to work."

"Thank you." He said as she handed him a plate. "Dear God…these are delicious. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"You're welcome. And you don't want to know." Was all she said as she sat down next to him. He glanced at her. "Logan." She confessed.

"Ah. Well, he did a damn good job." He said with his mouth full.

"I'll tell him you said that." She rolled her eyes as she picked her paper up. "What's your section?" She asked.

"What are you done with?" She nodded to a pile down the table.

"Oh, and Sports." She said, throwing it on the done pile. "Waste of paper if you ask me." He smiled as he shook his head.

"Paper elitist." He muttered.

"Yes. I am. In fact, I'm wondering where the Hell your Hartford paper is, Mr. New York Times."

"Do you get the Times?" He asked her, knowing the answer was yes.

"Not the point. I went out and got you one." She said.

"Why?"

"I wanted to check on the final copy of my article. The editor has a tendency to promise us certain spots, but when the paper comes out…" she waved the rest off with a flick of her hand.

"You write for the Hartford Gazette?" She nodded. "I didn't know that."

"Well, if you got the paper you would." She said.

"Hand me it. I want to read it."

"Read what?"

"Your article."

"Right now?" She asked. He stared at her. "Fine." She said, handing him an open section of the paper. "So are you feeling better?" He nodded. "You looked like you had been hit by a truck when you got home."

"Well, it was that kind of night. I'm sorry if I woke you up." She shook her head.

"Don't worry about it." She said again. "In fact, if we ever wanted to repeat last night again, I'm would have to get used to it." She said with a wink. He smiled at her.

"Would you want to repeat last night…tonight?" He asked her.

"You just woke up." She said with a laugh.

"So."

"Yeah. I would like that." She fought the grin that was spreading across her face.

"Okay then," He said as he leaned in and kissed her. She pulled away with a sigh.

"You do that really well." She whispered before kissing him again.

"You're just trying to distract me from reading your article." He said as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Is it working?" She raised an eyebrow hopefully. He pulled away with a thoughtful countenance.

"No." He smiled briefly before putting the paper in front of him.

OOOOO

Since their weekend-long date two weeks ago, Rory hadn't actually seen Tristan. She had got him on the phone once or twice a week, but between their two schedules, it was nearly impossible. She was starting to wonder whether or not this relationship was actually going to work. It's pretty hard to date someone if you never see him. But then she would think back to the weekend at his house and sigh. It was a fantastic weekend.

She shook her head, dissipating the memories. She needed to focus. She was packing to go home to Stars Hollow this weekend for a serious movie weekend and time with her mother, whom she also hadn't seen in a couple of weeks. Luke was going on a trip to visit April and Lorelei didn't want to be alone for a week. Rory had promised to come for the weekend, shortening Lorelei's alone time, at least a little bit. She was just about out the door when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." Tristan said.

"Hi, you." She smiled.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Driving to Stars Hollow, why?"

"Oh, no reason, I just finally had a night off so I figured we could do something." She sighed.

"We suck at this game." She said, sad that she was going to be missing him yet again. He laughed.

"We'll figure it out eventually. I promise."

"I hope so, this is getting ridiculous. I should have time to see my boyfriend." Tristan smiled at the word. They hadn't declared anything about their status, but he was glad to know that they didn't have to. "Hey! Why don't you come out to Stars Hollow?" She offered.

"Really?" He said, skeptically.

"Yeah, I mean, we were planning on watching some movies, discussing you at length, but that can be postponed." She teased him.

"No, you go spend time with your mom. Have a girl's weekend. I'll catch you next week."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He laughed. "You'll have much more fun without me. Call me later."

"Okay. If you change your mind…"

"Bye Mare." He said with a laugh.

"Bye." Putting her bag in her car, she tossed her cell phone on the passenger seat and started the car with a smile.

OOOOO

Lorelei came running up the front porch steps faster than she ever had.

"RORY!" She cried, pushing her way through the front door.

"Kitchen!" She cried back.

"We won!" She said, holding up a copy of a magazine.

"The crazy award?"

"We were voted the Best Small town Inn on the East Coast!" She squealed.

"WHAT?!" Rory said, grabbing the magazine from her mother.

"Oh My God! I have to call Sookie." She said scavenging for her cell phone in her purse.

"This is amazing! I'm so proud of you guys!" She said, rereading the article.

"Sookie. Put down all flammables and go out back." Rory laughed at her mother's instructions. "I'm serious. Are you sitting down? Away from anything that could harm you or the inn? Okay, ready? We were voted the Best Small town Inn on the East Coast by Hospitality magazine!" She held the phone away from her ear as Sookie screamed.

"Go over there." Rory said.

"I'm coming over. Don't move until I get there! Okay, bye."

"Go out and celebrate, I'll go to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa alone." Rory said. "This is a special occasion."

"Are you kidding? They would never forgive me for it if I missed it. I'll just run over there and meet you in Hartford." She picked up her purse and headed for the door.

"Mom," Rory handed her the magazine.

"Right, magazine. It's just a window to your future, kid." She said as she smacked herself in the head. With a smile, Rory waved her out the door.

OOOOO

Cursing the horrible traffic due to an accident on the freeway, Rory pulled into the driveway of her grandparents' house late.

"Rory, you're late. Where is your mother?"

"Traffic was terrible. And she's coming separately. She got some very important news and I won't share it with you, but it's fantastic." Her cell phone starting ringing and with a look from Emily, she opened it quickly.

"Hello?"

"Rory Gilmore?"

"Yes,"

"This is Hartford Memorial calling, there was an accident involving your mother,"

"Accident?"

"She's just come in and requested that we call you."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes, she'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Thanks."

"Rory, what's wrong?"

"Mom's been in an accident. She's in the hospital." She cried as Emily's face fell.


	5. Chapter 5

"Lorelei Gilmore

"Lorelei Gilmore?" She asked frantically.

"Right this way." The nurse led her to the room and Rory wanted to cry at the sight of her.

"What happened?" She asked as she went to her bedside.

"Traffic was a bitch." Emily frowned at the term. "Hi Mom, Dad."

"Hello, Lorelei."

"Construction was terrible and some guy ahead of me slammed on his breaks and I didn't." She said. "The Jeep's broken." She said with a pout.

"The car can be replaced." Richard said. Lorelei nodded.

"It looks worse than it is." She told Rory who touched her face. "They are making me stay overnight just to check everything out, but I can go home first thing in the morning."

"Okay, well, I'll go home and grab some stuff for you." Rory said standing up.

"Hey, and call Luke please. But don't do it until you are done freaking out. I don't want him coming back just for me, there's nothing he can do anyway." Rory nodded and kissed her head lightly, careful to watch the bruises and cuts. As she grabbed her mother's phone and left the room, her grandfather began to talk about insurance. She called Luke's cell phone.

"Hello?

"Luke, it's Rory."

"Hey Rory." Luke said with laughter in his voice. "How are you?"

"Um, fine. Everything's fine." But Luke could hear that something was most definitely not fine.

"What's wrong."

"Well, Mom and I were on our way to Friday night dinner, and there was a little accident. But everything's fine, she's just a little bruised up. She just wanted to let you know so you weren't shocked when you came home."

"What do you mean accident?"

"She's got a concussion and some bruises, but she's going to be just fine. The doctors are going to discharge her in the morning."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Right now she's having an insurance conversation with Grandpa. The Jeep is…well, it died."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was in my car. I made it safely. Oh and she just won a huge award at the Inn. I'll let her tell you about that though." She said as she waved the phone to Lorelei. She reached out for it so Rory continued. "Here she is." She handed the phone to Lorelei.

"Hey," She said with a sad sniff. "No, no I'm fine, really. Just a little concussion." Rory smiled as Luke freaked out on the other line. "You are not going anywhere. You need to be there. I have Rory."

"I'm going to run home and get stuff. Do you guys need anything?" She asked. They shook their heads. "Okay, see you in a bit."

OOOOO

Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed the number she had been waiting to call since she arrived.

"Hey, how's Stars Hollow?" He said as he answered.

"Um, right now I'm in Hartford. What do you know about concussions?"

"Why? What happened?"

"My mom got into a car accident, she's a little bruised and scraped up, but she'll be fine. I was just wondering if you could tell me about them, I don't really have time to research them and no one here is telling us anything except that she has a concussion and is staying overnight."

"Where are you?" He asked.

"Well, right now I'm on my way back from my place to grab an overnight bag for mom. I'm going back to the hospital."

"Memorial?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm just pulling into the parking lot."

"I'll meet you there. Don't move." He said.

"You don't have to do that. My grandparents are here, I'm fine, she's fine. I just, I don't like feeling uninformed."

"Ror, if you wanted to call a doctor you would have called Paris. I'm your boyfriend. Sometimes I can be both at the same time." She smiled. "Besides, I'm almost there. I live two seconds from the medical complex. Which parking lot are you in?"

"The ramp, um, level four." She said.

"Alright, see you in a few." Sure enough, within a couple minutes, he was pulling in next to her. "That was fast."

"We get paid more if we are fast." He said with a sympathetic smile as he saw her face. At just the sight of him, she launched himself into his arms. "Hey," She teared up as she hid in his chest.

"I'm sorry." She said as she started to cry for the first time.

"It's okay." She nodded.

"I know, I don't know why I'm crying."

"Relief mostly." He said, rubbing her back. "You can only be brave so long before you have to process the situation."

"I wasn't brave."

"Yes you were." He nodded.

"How do you know?" She said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Wow, you looked just like your little sister when you did that." He said staring at her. She laughed.

"Thank you for coming."

"Of course. Come on, let's get this stuff inside." He said as he wiped the last tear off of her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she watched him pick up the bag and put an arm around her.

"Seriously, what do you know about concussions?" She asked. He smiled at her, but decided to humor her because she was scared.

"Well, every football player in the world has obtained one sometime or another. The reason they are keeping her overnight is because they don't want her to fall asleep and they don't want her to have any long-term effects. This way they can make sure that she stays awake."

"Long-term effects? Like what?" She asked, her reporter face shining through.

"Memory loss, changes in judgement, any cognitive problems. Those are usually in the most severe concussions."

"So, treatment?"

"Monitoring her overnight is the best thing that the doctors can do to assess her. They will probably send her home to a bottle of Tylenol and a heat pad." He smiled.

"So it's not as scary as it sounds."

"No, it's not."

"Rory, there you are. We have to go, your grandfather has a very important meeting in the morning, but if you need anything, please let us know." Emily said. "Who are you?"

"Tristan DuGray ma'am." He said, taking his arm from around Rory and shaking her hand.

"Janlan's grandson." Richard remembered. "Haven't we met before at Rory's birthday party?"

"Yes sir, I believe we did." He said with a fond smile. Rory noticed his teasing glance and refrained from rolling her eyes.

"I remember because you're the spitting image of Janlan when he was younger."

"Yes, he is, isn't he?" Emily stepped back and noticed.

"Well, I've got to get this to Mom." Rory said as she stepped around the three of them.

"It's been nice meeting you Tristan." Richard said.

"Yes, I'm sorry it's under such conditions."

"Yes well, hopefully you will join us for dinner some evening?" Emily asked. Tristan nodded.

"I would like that."

"Goodbye." Tristan watched as they left and then turned to follow Rory back to Lorelei's room. He stood in the doorway and watched for a minute as Rory and Lorelei began to talk. Noticing him in the doorway, Lorelei motioned for him to come into the room.

"Hey," She said. "Tell me that is him." She muttered a little too loudly to Rory. She nodded.

"Vicoden." She explained.

"They are so amazing."

"Oh, I know." Tristan said with a smile as he sat down. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now that you're here." She smiled to Rory. "Isn't Rory pretty?" She said with a smile.

"Gorgeous. Just like her mother." Tristan said with a wink. Lorelei giggled. Rory hit him playfully under the table.

"Don't encourage her." She whispered.

"Oh, come on. I never get to play with the high people." He pouted.

"The nurses are nice, they got rid of my parents for me. As a doctor, do you think that I could have a nurse come home with me?"

"If nurses could get rid of parents, I would have become a doctor a lot sooner. And I don't think the doctors on duty would appreciate that." He said.

"I'm tired." She said, laying down.

"You can't fall asleep, the doctor told you that."

"I'm not going to, I'm gonna just lay here for a second." She said. Rory glanced at Tristan.

"Ror, why don't you go get you and your mom some coffee from the cafeteria?" He said, handing her some change.

"Coffee is good." She said. "It is our friend." Rory smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Hey, Lorelei, I have a question." Tristan said, putting her bed up so that she was at a ninety degree angle.

"Hmm?"

"What was Rory like as a kid?" She smiled.

"She was a good kid, just like she is now."

"What was her favorite food?"

"Mac and cheese when she was sad, coffee when she was happy. You make her happy."

"She makes me happy too."

"Let her say it first okay?" Tristan paused.

"Say what first?"

"I love you, let her say it first. Trust me." He sat back and thought about what Lorelei was saying.

"Coffee's here." Rory said as she emerged back through the door.

"Great." Tristan said. "Can you do me a favor Lorelei?"

"Hmm?" She was barely conscious.

"Drink up." Rory watched as Tristan put the coffee under her nose. He was taking such good care of her and of her mother…she was kind of falling for him.

OOOOO

"Above and beyond." She whispered to him as they sat in the waiting room while the hospital staff okayed Lorelei to sleep. Tristan had recommended it.

"Excuse me?"

"Once again, you are saving the day. I'm starting to think you're my own personal superhero." She said.

"You're exhausted…and slightly delusional." He said as he felt her forehead.

"You were great with Gigi, you stood up to Logan, you took care of me, you kept my mother awake, you were amazing with my grandparents. You're a superhero."

"Well when you put it like that."

"On the other hand, ever since I've met you I've needed to be saved. Maybe you could be bad luck." She gave him a sidelong glance and they both started laughing. "You're right, I'm exhausted."

"Hey, if you needing to be saved means that I can spend time with you, then I'm more than willing to do some saving." Rory looked into his eyes and her heart stopped beating.

"She's asleep." The nurse said as she interrupted the moment. "You two should get some rest yourselves. Something tells me she's going to be a handful once she wakes up." Rory smiled.

"She's right. You should go home and sleep." She said as she patted his thigh.

"What about you?" He said.

"I'll just snooze here. I want to be here if she wakes up."

"She's not going to, not with the Vicodin in her system. I'm not going to leave you stranded to sleep in a hospital chair. Come on," He said, pulling her out of her chair. "Hot shower, your own warm bed…you know you want it." She sighed.

"Just for a few hours." She said, giving in.

"Okay." He said, practically carrying her out of the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

Chilton uniform

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: This chapter is a _little_ more racy, I'm not changing the rating, but you have been warned.

Tristan had wanted to follow Rory home. He figured that she would need some help functioning after staying up all night. Not everyone was as adept at randomly shifting sleeping schedules as he was, he had argued. She parked in the underground parking and got out of her car. Reaching into the back seat, she pulled out her purse and pushed the box containing her old Chilton uniform, a left over from her mother's visit before the reunion, further underneath the seat. That was the last thing she needed Tristan to see. He pulled up next to her and she smiled gratefully, but the sleep deprivation was apparent in her eyes.

"You're almost home." He said.

"I know. Come on, let's go. I'll let you tuck me in." She said, leaning on him. She led him upstairs and unlocked her door. "Home." She cried as she fell onto an overstuffed chair.

"I see a 'Carry me Tristan?' in my future." He said as he sat down across from her.

"You know me so well."

"It's okay, I know how rough hospital visits can be."

"It isn't any easier when you're on the other side?" She asked.

"I don't know. I think it's worse. When I was dealing with my dad's cancer, I felt even more helpless because I know all the tricks to the trade. I knew the faces the doctors give when the news is bad, I knew the treatment, but there wasn't anything I could do."

"What did he have?"

"Colon cancer. He found out and four months later he was dead." Tristan said with a surprising calm.

"That's horrible. Weren't you in Baltimore at the time?" He nodded.

"I came up occasionally. More when things got bad towards the end." She could hear the ice forming in his voice. She got up and sat next to him on the couch.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like. If anything happened to my mother…" She didn't finish.

"It wasn't the same thing." He said, clearly shutting down.

"You didn't have a good relationship, did you?" She asked. He didn't say anything. She ran a hand across his back.

"It was what it was." He said. "I didn't feel upset, or incredibly sad when it happened. In fact, I may have even thought once or twice that the son of a bitch had it coming." He said coldly.

"That's not true."

"I never said it was." He ran his hand over his head. "Let's not talk about this, please?" She nodded.

"Okay," She kissed his temple. "Come on. Carry me to bed?" She asked, her long eyelashes batting over her big blue eyes. He couldn't help but smile.

"The things I do for you."

"You're my superhero." She whispered.

"Stop it." He requested.

"Why?" She said. "It's true."

"It is not. And there's no way that I can live up to it."

"You already have."

"I don't want to disappoint you." He said honestly as he brushed the hair out of her face.

"Impossible." She said. "Plus, I can still think it." She teased with a sleepy smile. He didn't say anything, simply picked her up and carried her down the hall to her bedroom.

"There you go." He said as he laid her down.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He kissed her before starting to walk away.

"Tristan?" Her small voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Yeah baby?"

"Will you stay?" He couldn't say no to her, even if he wanted to. "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Yeah. If you want." She nodded. He took off his shirt and climbed into bed next to her. She just smiled. "Don't say it." He said without ever making eye contact. She kissed his chest and laid her head down on his shoulder.

OOOOO

'I love this,' he thought the next morning when he woke up with her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and shifted out from underneath her.

"No, don't go." She begged.

"I'll be right back." She reached out to him but he was already on his way to the bathroom. When he returned, she was sitting up and on the phone with her mother.

"How's your mom?" He asked when she had hung up.

"She's good. They said she can leave this afternoon."

"Great." He said, sliding back into bed.

"Thank you for staying last night." She said.

"Of course."

"Would you like to grab some breakfast before I go pick up Mom?"

"Sure. I'll tell you what, let me grab a shower and then I'll make you breakfast."

"With what?" She asked, guiltily.

"Have you no food?" He asked, already knowing the answer. She just pulled the comforter over her head.

"Just because I can cook doesn't mean that I do!" was her muffled defense.

"Okay, we'll go out." He said, finding her under her hiding place.

"Yay!" She emerged again.

"Can I at least change my clothes before we pick up your mother?" Rory smiled.

"Yes, I'm not ready to subject you to that kind of torture quite yet."

OOOOO

Tristan, Rory and Lorelei were driving back to Stars Hollow later that afternoon. Tristan turned around to talk to Lorelei, who was in the back seat.

"So, you're saying that you didn't actually sneak out via the drainpipe?" He asked.

"No, that was a last resort kind of thing, on the rare occasion that I was locked in my room. I much preferred the basement window, although climbing through in a skirt was always interesting." She remembered.

"I was always a fan of the balcony to tree to car parked down the street move myself."

"Oh, no. Balconies were a completely different memory." She said with a dirty smile.

"No, we are not discussing my conception in this car. I will pull over." Rory warned from the front seat. Tristan and Lorelei both smiled at her reaction. It was really nice having her boyfriend and her mother get along. It had never happened before, but to be quite honest, it sort of freaked Rory out a little that they did get along so well. When they were together, she had the feeling that she was outnumbered, and between their two minds, she didn't want to be outnumbered. Pulling into her driveway, she took Lorelei and Tristan grabbed their stuff and followed them into the house.

"Lorelei, sweetie, you're home!" Babette called from her front porch.

"You two go inside, I'll take care of it." Rory said with a wink.

"Rory! How's your mom doin' sugar?"

"Truthfully, she's doing great, she's just a little tired from all of the medication." Rory played her role as caring daughter to a tee.

"Pain pills will do that. I just saw this episode of 20/20 where these folks got addicted to…Maury? What was that drug we just saw on the TV?" She screamed into the house. When she got no answer, she shrugged. "Well, they were bad news."

"I'm sure that everyone is going to want to drop in and check on her, but if you could spread word around town to wait, at least for a while…I don't want anyone disturbing her rest."

"Sure thing, doll. I completely understand. Tell her to feel better."

"Oh, I will. Thanks Babette." Rory said as she walked back over to her house.

OOOOO

"Where do you want me to set this stuff?" Tristan asked as Lorelei laid down on the couch.

"Um, let me see." He turned around to face her. "Big bag can go on the kitchen table, purse can go by the phone and, what is that?" Lorelei asked pointing to a box he was holding.

"I figured it was yours, it was in the backseat with the rest of the stuff." Tristan said. It was then that Lorelei recognized the package.

"That's Rory's." She said, unable to mask her reaction.

"What is it?" He was curious.

"Actually, it technically could be a present for you, so I'm going to go with…don't open it."

"A present for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Just then, Rory came through the front door. Lorelei took the box and shoved it under the coffee table.

"Okay, I took care of the people who would be over all the time visiting you. Although, now you might have to worry about people thinking you're addicted to drugs…" She looked at both of them. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." They both said.

"Right." She drew out the word as she scanned each of their faces. "Wanna try again?" Tristan had no problem telling lies, but he had no idea why they were telling this one, so he figured he would let Lorelei lead.

"Well, I... and he…" She was struggling. "Damn the medication screwing with my brain. Tristan found that package I gave you in the backseat of your car and I figured you didn't want him to open it, so I took it and put it under the coffee table." Lorelei confessed. Rory's eyes fell on the package and she blushed a little. Now Tristan was very interested in what was in the box.

"Okay." She said as she walked over and picked it up. Heading into the kitchen, Tristan followed her.

"What's in the box Mary?" He teased her.

"It has nothing to do with you if that's what you are worried about." She said as she turned around to face him.

"Your mother said it was a present for me."

"It's not." She said.

"Then why can't I open it?"

"Because." She really needed to work on her comebacks. He pulled her close.

"What's in the box, Mary?" He repeated, this time his breath was warm on her ear, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

"Why don't you use your X-ray vision to find out?" She teased, but her voice was tinted with seductive undertones. He was seriously considering giving up on the questions and just kissing the Hell out of her when the phone rang, completely destroying any chance for either opportunity.

"I got it." Lorelei said from the next room.

"I'm going to find out eventually." He promised as he let her out of his grasp.

"Maybe." She said. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm on duty til two, why?"

"Come over to my place when you get off." She said. "And I'll show you what's in my box." She left him hanging on every word as she walked into the living room to say goodbye to her mother.

OOOOO

Tristan was tired, but strangely excited as he arrived at Rory's doorstep that night. His imagination was going wild with all of the things he thought might be in store for him. As he knocked, he was surprised to find Rory answering the door in her pajamas. And her hair was straight, he hadn't seen her wear her hair straight since they were kids.

"Hi," He said, surprised.

"Don't look at me like that. Just because you are going to stay up all night doesn't mean that the rest of us have to." She smiled. "How was work?"

"What's in the box?" He said, changing the subject. She just smiled and curled her finger.

"Follow me." She led him down the hall to her bedroom. She pointed to the bed, where the mystery box was waiting. "It's all yours." Suddenly, he was a little nervous. Shaking off the feeling he reached for the box. Pulling off the lid, he was shocked by what he saw.

"Oh my God." He said as he pulled out a cardigan sweater and ran his hand over the logo. Reaching back into the box he emerged with her plaid skirt, a white button down shirt, and a tie.

"Is it what you were expecting?" She asked. He looked up at her and found that while he had been opening the box, she had been undressing. Standing before him in a matching black bikini set, she took the white shirt from off of the bed and began putting it on.

"Not at all." He said. "It's better." He watched as she put each article of clothing on, and when she was done, she took a step back.

"Oh, head band." She said as she walked over to the dresser and put it on. The last piece of the puzzle was in place. Standing before him was the sixteen year old Mary that he had first fallen in love with. "Well, what do you think?" She asked, giving him a twirl.

"I'm…wow." He said as he sat down on the bed. "It's like looking at a ghost." He said, unable to wrap his mind around it. "A really, really sexy ghost." He said as she walked towards him.

"I will never understand it, nothing about this attire says 'Sexy' to me." Tristan smiled and helped her out.

"The way the skirt clings to your hips, but hangs just a little too short on your legs." He pointed out as he held onto her hip with one hand and ran his finger in between the hem of her skirt and her skin with the other. "It moves up just a little when you walk." He removed the already loose tie and used it to pull her closer towards him and she sat down on his right knee. "The white blouse is practically transparent." He said as he unbuttoned the first few buttons. "So it's a tease already, but when you show just a little skin…" He pushed the fabric back and kissed her collarbone. "It makes it that much worse." She felt herself getting pulled into the mystique. "And when you're as turned on as I am," He whispered. "it's easy to tell." He ran a thumb across her hardened nipple, and despite the layers still covering it, she let out a shiver. "Plus, there is a lot of easy access without actually getting undressed, so having sex in school without getting caught is a lot easier." He smirked.

"Well," she said, completely brain dead. "When you put it like that…"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing and with the current stock market crash I now own even less

Disclaimer: I own nothing and with the current stock market crash I now own even less.

It was the last week in August and everyone was getting their last bit of summer in before the fall officially started. Rory was sitting with Tristan at a café, enjoying the warm weather. Closing her eyes, she leaned back, completely relaxed.

"I wish I had a book right now." She said.

"Am I boring you?" He teased.

"No, it's just the perfect day to sit outside and read."

"It's the perfect day to go to the beach and surf."

"You surf often in Connecticut?" She said, opening one eye.

"No, but in North Carolina, I used to surf all the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I love it. I haven't done it since I graduated from UNC. We should go sometime. I could teach you." Laughing at the face he received, she sat up.

"You could teach me how to sit and watch while I read my book." She said honestly.

"Sounds good. What are you doing this weekend?" He asked.

"Um, I don't know." She said, thinking he was teasing her.

"I'm serious. Let's go."

"Don't you have to work?" He shook his head.

"I've got the weekend off. Do you have to work?" She shook her head. "Well then, why not?"

"Because we don't have plane tickets, or a hotel, or any other semblance of a plan other than, you miss surfing and I want to read a book."

"That's all we need baby." He said as he opened his arms. "Think about it. You lying on the beach, tanning, reading your book. I'm surfing. We spend the day outside and then grab some fantastic seafood. Afterwards we build a fire on the beach, wrap ourselves in blankets and watch the stars…Sounds good right?" He suggested.

"It sounds perfect, but that doesn't mean that we can just hop on a plane."

"Yeah, actually it does. Come on, it's the end of summer. If we don't do it now, come February we are going to kick ourselves. Plus, ever since we've met you've had a reason to be stressed out. You deserve a vacation." She watched his face. He sincerely wanted to do this. He looked like a little kid begging for a piece of candy at the grocery store.

"You really want to do this…" She said, slightly surprised.

"Do something spontaneous Gilmore. You know you want to." She didn't budge. "I'll let you plan the entire trip." He sang. Well, that was a start… She knew what she needed to seal the deal.

"Promise you won't make me surf." She said.

"Deal." He said with a huge smile.

OOOOO

Sometime in between landing in Wilmington, North Carolina and getting to the front door of the airport, Tristan heard this.

"DuGray?" Turning around to face the sound of his name, he was confronted with one of his former best friends.

"Adams?"

"Oh my God! How are you man? What are you doing back here?" He said with a hug.

"A weekend away with my girlfriend. Rory, this is Paul Adams. We went to college together."

"Nice to meet you." She said with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine darlin'." He said kissing her hand. "Damn, DuGray." He said to his friend. "You've got quite the girl here."

"Oh, I'm aware." He said, clearly proud of the girl standing next to him.

"Paul, do you surf?" Rory asked.

"All the time."

"Tristan was planning on surfing the day away, you should join him."

"Yeah, I'll kick your ass. It would be like old times." Tristan said with a cocky smile.

"Sounds like fun. Where are you going to be?"

"Surf City." Rory said with a smile. "God, I love saying that. It's straight out of a sixties movie."

"I let her plan the trip. One look at the map and she was dead set on going there."

"Well, what better place to surf? It is obviously named Surf City for a reason." She told him.

"She has a point DuGray."

"Well, we will be on the beach, so come join us. I'm sure Tristan would love the company."

"You're not going to join him?" Paul asked Rory. Tristan shook his head.

"Part of the stipulations of the trip. Gilmores do not surf." He quoted her.

"Huh, well, maybe I will."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Sounds good."

"It was nice running into you!" Rory said with a smile as they walked away.

"That's so weird." Tristan said.

"Who says you can't go home again?" Rory nudged him.

OOOOO

Rory figured it was just about time to turn, but she was so comfortable, she didn't move. She had given up on her book, wanting to instead just feel the warm rays on her skin. When a shadow suddenly appeared over her, she didn't have to open her eyes to know who it was.

"You're blocking my sun." She said.

"Tell me you aren't having the time of your life." Tristan said with a smile as he sat down next to her.

"I am. And from the look of it, so are you."

"Yeah, I've forgotten how much I love the ocean." She watched the droplets of water fall off of him and land on her skin.

"Where's Paul?"

"Poor sucker had to go back to work." He said with a tsk tsk. "Can you believe that?"

"It didn't look like you had any trouble remembering how to surf." She said, sitting up and handing him a towel. He shook his head before running the towel through his hair.

"It's like riding a bike."

"Good, now all I have to worry about is you getting eaten by a shark and/or stung by a jellyfish." He laughed at her.

"Glad to know someone's looking out for me." He said honestly. "Hey, have I kissed you yet?"

"Not yet, no." She said with a sly smile.

"Hmm." His eyebrows furrowed as he leaned in and kissed her slowly. She smiled and flipped over onto her stomach.

"Hey, lotion me will you?" She asked, pointing to the bottle of sunscreen at his side.

"My pleasure." She flinched and let out a small squeal as he squirted some lotion onto her back. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Mmm, it's so okay." Her neck fell forward as he worked his way up her shoulders. "How long are you going to keep surfing?" She asked.

"I was thinking about calling it quits for today; we don't want to miss our dinner reservations." He said.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"It's almost seven."

"No, it's not." Rory sat up and reached for her phone. That couldn't be possible. He nodded. "Oh my God! Where did the day go?" She asked.

"Away." He said. "Come on, let's go back to the hotel and take a shower, then we can go to dinner."

"You should have told me that before you put some more lotion on my back." She said. Tristan, knowing that he had been caught, just gave her one of his patented smirks.

"What can I say? Some things I choose to do for my own enjoyment." Picking up her bag, she turned to face him.

"Would you like to do _me_ for your own enjoyment?" She asked. Her expression was impossible to read, but Tristan could swear that underneath her big sunglasses, her eyes were laughing. He didn't answer her, he just smiled and let his eyes do the talking for him.

OOOOO

As they walked back into their little bungalow, Rory set her beach stuff on the chair and gazed out the patio window towards the beach. The sun was starting to sink below the trees, casting an orange glow over the water. Tristan walked up behind her and kissed her neck. Smiling, she kept her sights on the ocean.

"I think I'm going to write about this place some day."

"In a column?" He asked, letting his hands roam up and down the smooth cover-up that lay around her hips.

"In a book." She turned to face him.

"I think that's a great idea." He said. She just smiled. She had never confessed her wish to write fiction before to anyone. She knew that it was a nearly impossible field to get into, but she hoped that with more experience, she would be able to find a story that she wanted to tell.

"Come on, let's shower before we miss dinner." She said, pulling at the strings of her bikini top.

"Well, if you insist." Tristan followed behind her to the bathroom.

OOOOO

"I can't believe you made us miss dinner." She said once again as they strolled through the small beach town.

"I didn't hear you complaining earlier." He said.

"Well, honestly, what was I supposed to do?" He smirked, remembering their escapades. A very hot make-out session in the shower that changed the way Tristan will forever think of foreplay. Once in the shower, with the water turned off because it had run cold. Then once more after finally reaching the bed. "Stop it." She said, without looking at him.

"What?" He chuckled.

"Don't 'what?' me, you know what." He shook his head. "You're gloating."

"I just got done having the best sex of my life, after surfing all day! There are so many endorphins shooting through my body right now that I'm surprised I'm still touching the ground." She smiled at his giddy reaction.

"You're really not going to say it, are you?"

"Say what?" He tilted his head confused.

"That you're in love." She stopped him dead in his tracks with the phrase. "Fine, then I'll do it." She wrapped her arms around him and looked him straight in the eye. "I love you." He couldn't contain the grin that exploded onto his face.

"I love you too." He said. "God, I've been wanting to say that for a long time."

"What have you been waiting for?"

"You, mostly." He said with a laugh as they kept walking.

"I've never said it first, to anyone." She said. He squeezed her hand to comfort her. "I've been waiting and waiting. I figured this would be the perfect time and nope, nothing. You're almost as stubborn as I am." She said.

"I've never said it and meant it." He said. "Until now."

"Well, now you can start saying it all the time." She said. "Because it sounds really good when you say it."

"Hey Mare," She stopped and looked up at him. "I love you." She smiled. "It feels pretty good too." He said thoughtfully before leaning down and kissing her.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Just as Rory had feared, once they had gotten back to Hartford, their busy lives started up again. One night, after Rory had gotten home from a late work meeting, she found three missed calls from Tristan. Thinking something was seriously wrong, she picked up the phone to return his call.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked, the tone in his voice clearly letting her know that he had something to say.

"I'm fine, what's up?" She asked back.

"I have a little something to ask of you. And if you don't want to do it, I completely understand."

"Do you have a body you need moved?" She joked.

"My mother has invited us over for dinner on Saturday night."

"Okay, and…"

"Nothing, that's it." She smiled.

"So why do you sound like the world might just end."

"I don't sound like that, do I?" He asked. Rory just grinned.

"Kinda, yeah." She heard him sigh. "Dinner on Saturday sounds fine. Unless,"

"Unless what?"

"Unless _you_ don't want to go." She suggested.

"No, I mean, it will be fine. It is fine." He stressed the word _is_ so much she almost thought he would hurt himself. She had never heard him be this flustered before. There could only be one reason.

"Tristan, is this the first time you've done this?" She asked him slowly. There was a long pause.

"Maybe?" She laughed.

"Don't worry. It's going to be fine. I'm great with parents, they love me."

"No offense, Mare. But it's not exactly you that I'm worried about here."

"The only thing you need to worry about is picking me up, I'll cover you from there."

OOOOO

Rory answered the door expecting the worst. She knew that he was nervous so she was going to try and make this comfortable for him.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi…wow, you look beautiful." He said, clearly distracted by her attire.

"Thank you." She smiled. "Are you doing okay? Do you want to come in and sit down for a minute?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He said, although she didn't believe him for a second. "I just want to get there and get this over with."

"Tris, what's the worst that could happen?" She asked.

"You really shouldn't ask me that. I've been running over scenarios all day and I've come up with some very interesting ideas."

"Would it help if I told you that as soon as the dinner ends, we'll go back to your place and I'll help you…" she chose her words carefully "unwind, from this stressful day?" He thought about it.

"Couldn't hurt." She reached out and fixed his tie. Brushing off the shoulder of his suit jacket, she smiled.

"Okay then, let's do this."

OOOOO

The rain was pouring down around them as they stood underneath the front entrance of Tristan's family home. Tristan took a deep breath and glanced one more time at Rory. She seemed okay with being here, not nervous at all. Why wasn't she nervous? He was certainly nervous. Not _nervous_ nervous…just sort of nervous. He had never done this before, with any of his previous girlfriends that is, and…

"Do you want me to do it?" She asked, interrupting his stream of consciousness. "Or would you rather we wait until one of us gets pneumonia?" She smiled sweetly.

"You can't get pneumonia from the rain." Tristan said.

"Okay, Dr. DuGray." She said as she hit the button for him. Within a few seconds, a maid was answering the door.

"Mr. DuGray." She nodded to him. "Your mother is in the living room."

"Thank you." Rory smiled as the maid took her coat.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered as his mother came to greet them.

"Tristan! Oh, you look so tan since I last saw you!" She said as she gave him a hug.

"We went to North Carolina for a little vacation." He explained.

"And the surfing?" She asked with a knowing eye.

"Very sufficient." He smiled. "Mom, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory, my mother, Evelyn DuGray."

"The infamous girlfriend. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She smiled as she shook her hand warmly.

"You too."

"I've heard so much about you." Rory smiled and glanced at Tristan. He was clearly very uncomfortable with the whole situation so he was just keeping quiet. "Well, come in, what can we get you to drink?" She asked. "Tristan, the usual?"

"I'll get it." He said. He needed something to do with his hands.

"Alright, I'll have a martini. Rory?"

"A martini sounds great, Evelyn."

"Two martinis coming up." Tristan said as he walked over to the bar.

"So Rory, Tristan tells me that you write for the Hartford paper?"

"I do." Rory nodded. "Foreign news pieces usually, once and a while a column or editorial, but I like to stick to the facts." Evelyn smiled.

"Here you are." Tristan said as he handed each of his martinis to their rightful owner.

"Thank you." Rory smiled as he sat down next to her.

"Well, I look forward to reading some of your pieces in the future." Evelyn said as she took a sip of her drink. "So, you went on a little trip?" She asked Tristan. "I didn't know you were planning a trip to North Carolina."

"Yeah, well, it was kind of spur of the moment." He said, putting it delicately.

"He decided it would be a good idea and we left the next day." Rory smiled.

"That sounds about right." She said. "You were always so impulsive."

"Well, we've both been working pretty hard so I figured a weekend getaway would do us both some good."

"And I'm betting that you spent the entire time in the ocean and left this poor girl on the beach." Evelyn said.

"This 'poor girl' would only come along if I promised to leave her alone on the beach." Tristan said.

"It's true. I sat on the beach, got a tan, and read my book. It was heaven on earth."

"I'm impressed that you found the time. You work so hard for someone who is so young."

"I'm twenty-eight Mom." He pointed out with a grin.

"Tristan has always been very driven, he got that from his father, rest his soul." She explained to Rory. "Of course, it hasn't always been an asset to his character. Especially when, for years, his main goal in life was to annoy his father." She glanced over at him.

"Mom, please." Tristan said.

"It's true," Rory said. "We were all there for your high school years Tris. You can't deny it." Tristan shot her a look that screamed "Judas!" She just smiled, wrapped her arm around his and patted his shoulder.

"Don't get me wrong, I love that you have put all that ambition to good use, but you need to stop and appreciate this time in your life because before you know it, it's gone." She said.

"Here, here." Rory said.

OOOOO

"I'll get our coats." Tristan said as he left the room. Once he had left the room, Evelyn and Rory stood up and walked to the foyer together.

"Rory," She said with an honest smile. "It's been a pleasure finally meeting you."

"Thank you for having me. This was great."

"I think you are going to be a wonderful influence on my son." She shook her head. "He needs someone to keep him in line." Rory laughed.

"Trust me, he's the only reason I'm still in one piece. I don't know what I would have done without him these past couple of weeks."

"He really loves you. A mother knows." Evelyn said with a quick wink. Rory smiled and nodded.

"Are you ready to go?" Tristan asked, handing her her jacket.

"Uh-huh." She said as she slipped it on.

"Thanks for dinner." He said as he kissed his mom's cheek. She nodded.

"We'll have to do it again sometime." Rory suggested.

"That sounds lovely." Evelyn said. After a brief wave, Tristan and Rory walked out to the car.

"Well that went well." Rory said as he started the car.

"Yeah, it did." He said, sounding surprised. "I don't know how I feel about the two of you getting along so well. It makes me…"

"Nervous?" Rory smiled, thinking it was an appropriate word choice given the theme of the night.

"Cautious to do it again. I have the feeling that I would end up getting played."

"Yes well, now you know how I felt when you met my mom. I love you for it though." He smiled. "Not very many people could go head to head with Lorelei."

"That's different, your mom is cool. It's easy to get along with her." Rory laughed.

"You are the first boyfriend in the history of the world to say that to me."

"Really?" She nodded.

"Oh yeah, in the past, my mom and the men in my life have not gotten along. At all." She said. "Which is why I appreciate the fact that you two get along, however scary it might be."

"Well, I have yet to meet Luke, and I have a feeling that he's going to be harder to please."

"He's one of those guys that once you prove yourself, he likes you for life. He might be a little protective of me at first, but that's only because he's known me my entire life. Even before they started dating, Luke was always the father figure in my life. Now, it's only a matter of time before they get married and he makes it official."

"That's nice." Tristan said. "That you were able to have that." Rory nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Her mind wandered off for a minute and Tristan didn't say anything, letting her process whatever she was thinking so intently about.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, it wasn't until very recently that I even started to get to know my real dad, and things are pretty good right now between us. I mean, I went with Gigi to her appointment so that's got to mean something." She said as he nodded. "But I haven't really thought about how my relationship with my dad is going to play out with my relationship with Luke. They've never really been around each other. I mean, my entire life it's been me and my Mom. First and foremost."

"Right."

"And now, I don't know, I guess we've found different lives. Her life with Luke, while it contains me, of course, is also separate. My life with my dad has nothing to do with my Mom. I mean, she wants me to have a good relationship with him, but they don't have a good relationship. What about Christmas? He's going to want me to spend it with him, Mom and Luke will have one, the grandparents always have a big Christmas party."

"Oh yeah, my grandpa used to steal some apple tarts and bring them back for me." He smiled. "Those were some amazing apple tarts."

"I know." She said.

"Sorry, go on." He said, realizing he had interrupted her. She paused to gather her thoughts.

"I haven't quite found a way to reconcile the two families yet. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, absolutely. You're going through what every divorced kid across America is going through."

"I guess. But I mean, take for example, my wedding. Who's going to walk me down the aisle? The man who I barely know but is biologically my father, or the man who has always been like my father? No matter who I ask, I'm going to be insulting the other."

"Are you hinting at something Mare?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood. She looked over at him.

"No! God no, that's not the point. I just…I want it to work out." She said.

"I know you do." He ran his hand over her knee. "It will, you just have to let it work itself out." He said as he pulled into his driveway.

"All of this conversation about family is driving me crazy."

"Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you some coffee and we can relax." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Alright, Troy. How bad is the pain?" Tristan asked as he read his chart.

"Probably a five, I'm feeling good today." The boy smiled.

"That's good. We're going to try and see if we can get you feeling like a four." He smiled back. He hated the oncology ward. Kids fighting so hard, parents trying to smile when their child asks for remission instead of presents for Christmas. It made his heart hurt.

"Dr. DuGray?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything, you know that." Tristan said.

"Are you married?" He shook his head.

"No."

"But you have a girlfriend?" He smiled.

"Yeah, I do." Tristan knew what he was thinking. "What's her name?" He said as he turned around to pull a chair up to the side of the bed.

"You can't tell anyone." He said.

"Doctor-patient confidentiality. I can't tell anyone anything." He assured him.

"Okay." He thought about it. "Her name is Sarah."

"Sarah, good name." Tristan said. "Where did you meet her?"

"Here." He said simply.

"She's an oncology patient?" Troy nodded.

"Leukemia." Tristan was still surprised that patients defined each other by how sick they were. Leukemia was a bad sign. "She's feeling sad because the last of her hair has fallen out." Tristan nodded.

"And you have a crush on her?"

"Kinda. I just don't want her to be sad anymore. She's my friend."

"So you want to cheer her up, and maybe get some attention at the same time." Troy let out a guilty smile. "Okay, we can work with this. Here's what we're going to do."

OOOOO

"I can't do that."

"Kelly, this is true love between dying twelve year olds. You're not going to stand in the way of true love, are you?" Tristan asked sweetly. The nurse smiled. He handed off the gift with a wink. "Thank you."

"You could do just about anything with that smile, has anyone ever told you that?" She said.

"Everyday." The truth was that he hadn't resorted to flirting to get his way in a very long time, but today, he was a little desperate. It was nice to know that he still had what it took. He waited until Sarah was wheeled back into her room before grabbing her chart.

"Hey, Sarah. My name is Dr. DuGray. I'm going to be checking up on you today."

"Okay."

"Is it your birthday?" He asked as he looked at the package at the foot of her bed.

"What?" She looked confused.

"Where did that come from?" Her mother asked.

"I don't know. It was here when I got in." She looked at him. He picked it up. "It's got your name on it."

"Well, go ahead. Open it." Her mother said. She tore the wrapping off of it. Opening the box, Tristan watched her face rather than the gift. Taking out the new silk scarf, she ran her hand over it.

"It's beautiful." He said. "Does it say who it's from?"

"A beautiful blue scarf to match your beautiful blue eyes. Love, your secret admirer." He looked over at Sarah's mother, who had tears in her eyes.

"Help me put it on?" She asked her mother. She helped her tie it and stood back. "What do you think?"

"A gorgeous girl like you, wearing a scarf like that, driving all the boys wild. It's almost not fair." Tristan smiled.

"You're just saying that." She said with a small smile.

"I'm not. I met my girlfriend back in high school. She had the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen." Tristan said to her mother. "She still uses them against me to this day." He said honestly. "A girl bats her eyelashes and a guy will do whatever she wants."

"I don't have any eyelashes to bat." She said.

"I don't think your admirer will mind." Tristan smiled. "Sounds like he's really head over heels for you. Any ideas of who it is?" She shook her head. "Well, keep an eye out. Guys like this usually have a plan." She nodded.

OOOOO

"Hey Sarah. Nice scarf." Troy said as they met in their usual place to play checkers.

"Thanks. It's new." She said, glancing to read his reaction.

"Are you ready to play?" She nodded. Tristan watched as the two began the game.

"Was it him?" He turned around to face Sarah's mother.

"I don't know."

"I think it was him."

"It was a kind gesture. Girls usually struggle with losing their hair more than guys do. It shows he understands her feelings."

"Is it wrong for me to think that she's being foolish for getting into a relationship while she's in a hospital?"

"You wouldn't be her mother if you didn't want what was best for her." He said with a smile. "But sometimes the best thing is for them to just live like a regular person for awhile. Happiness is a better healer than we are."

"I don't want her to get attached any more than she needs to be."

"As a doctor, I think it's a good thing. It gives her just another reason to fight." He gave a pat to her shoulder and walked off.

OOOOO

Looking up to see who was knocking, Rory knew that Tristan was up to something the second she saw him walk through the door.

"Hi." She said, looking around her office for a chair to clean for him.

"Hello." He said as he kissed her.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I thought I would drop by and surprise you with lunch."

"Really?" He held up the bag in his hand. "You did! That is so sweet." She pushed some books to the side to make room for the bag.

"How's work going?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Slow news day. What about you."

"I think I might have played matchmaker today." She raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Do tell." As he went through the story, Rory couldn't help but fall for Tristan all over again. She leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"So now, we need to come up with stage two of the plan. Any ideas?"

"Movie night." She said slowly. "You can get them in the same room?" He nodded. "Let them watch a movie together. Casablanca. It's innocent enough for the mom, but the kids will get to sit in the dark together. You never know what could happen."

"You're good at this." He said with a mischievous smile. "I like it."

"I love that you are doing this." She admitted.

"I need to. I need a reason to go in there and not feel terrible about every patient I come across." He said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's really hard to be a doctor and not be able to fix children. Young, otherwise healthy children should be able to be cured." She grabbed his hand and ran her thumb over his skin.

"You do your best, and that's all anyone can ask of you."

"I know, but sometimes the best isn't good enough." Rory watched as the pain flickered over his face. Hating herself for not recognizing it sooner, she sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not figuring this out sooner." Tristan didn't understand. "This isn't about them. This is about your relationship with your dad." Tristan's eyes went cold.

"This is not about my dad." He said defensively.

"Tristan, it's okay to care more because you have personal experience. It just makes you a better doctor."

"You have no idea what transpired between my father and me, nor do you have any right to speak on the matter." He said, raising his voice.

"Tristan…" Rory said, not wanting to cause him any pain. Unfortunately, that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Don't." He said as he held up a hand. "I'll call you later." He muttered before walking out the door.

OOOOO

Sarah and Troy were both clearly nervous as they sat next to each other in bed. As they watched the movie, Troy slowly reached out and held her hand. She smiled.

"Was it you?" She asked.

"Was what me?"

"The scarf? Was it you?" Troy didn't say anything. "I wanted it to be from you." He looked over at her.

"Really?" He asked, surprised. She nodded. "Well, it was." With a smile, she squeezed his hand.

"I like you Troy." She admitted slowly. "I've never had a boyfriend before."

"I've never had a girlfriend before."

"Do you…I mean, would you want to…be my boyfriend?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Okay then." She said with a smile. When the movie ended, Sarah turned to Troy.

"What did you think of the movie?" He asked her.

"It was good. Thank you." He smiled. She leaned over and kissed him chastely on the edge of his lips.

"Bye." He said, completely dumbfounded as he walked slowly back to his room in a goofy trance.

OOOOO

"I suck." He said as she opened the door.

"How did you get in my building?" She asked.

"I explained the situation to your doorman and he let me in."

"Well that's comforting." She said with a shudder.

"I'm sorry." He said, still standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?" She hesitated but relented.

"You never called." She said as she sat down on the couch. "You told me you would call me later and you never did."

"I needed a few days to sit in the corner and think about what I had done?" He offered. "I am truly sorry. Look, I've never talked about my relationship with my dad with anyone, including my mother. So when you brought it up, I went into defense mode." She raised her eyebrow. "Okay, so I was a linebacker. I told you, I suck."

"You don't suck." She said with a small smile. "But you could have told me that you didn't want to talk about it."

"I have a feeling that eventually I'm going to have to talk about it with you."

"Not if you don't want to. You just have to tell me what is off limits." She said. "I don't know unless you talk to me."

"I have to talk to you about not talking?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes you do." She smiled. "I didn't mean to touch a nerve."

"It's okay, you didn't know." He teased her. Inhaling deeply, he sighed. "So…are we good?"

"Yeah." She said. Biting her lip, she grinned. "I missed you." She said, her voice going low.

"You did?" She nodded as her bedroom eyes appeared. He walked over to her. "I missed you too." He slowly climbed over her and she sighed comfortably as his weight pressed her into the couch.

"I missed the way my pillows smell like your after-shave." She admitted coyly.

"I missed the way you taste." He kissed her slowly, as if he could make up for lost time by relishing in this one kiss.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear as he trailed his lips down her neck. She sighed as she wrapped her fingers in his hair. "I love you so much." Tristan groaned his reply, virtually unable to pull his lips off of her skin. She giggled at his worship of her and put her fingers under his chin. "Tristan!" Finally looking up at her, he smirked.

"I love you too." He said to appease her. "But right now I want to show you, not tell you. I know it's a strange phenomenon for you, but when it comes to you and me, words just aren't enough." She was surprised by the honesty in his voice.

"Okay, show me." She said.


	10. Chapter 10

Previously on Gilmore Girls:

_Previously on Gilmore Girls:_

"_I love you too." He said to appease her. "But right now I want to show you, not tell you. I know it's a strange phenomenon for you, but when it comes to you and me, words just aren't enough." She was surprised by the honesty in his voice._

"_Okay, show me." She said._

Famous last words, Rory thought as she caught her breath. She should have known better than to challenge Tristan DuGray to anything. For the last week, Tristan had been showing her just how much he loved her. Every night he would show up at her door, or vice versa, and they would eat dinner together, watch TV, do some work, and then spend the night under the covers.

"Oh my God." Rory said as his head appeared from under the covers. "You're relentless." He just smirked proudly and kissed her once more.

"Hey, you wanted it." Tristan said, with an exhausted smile. Rory was still surprised at the level of intimacy that Tristan brought to the bedroom. He was fantastic in bed, she hadn't expected anything less, but it was the care and attention to her that truly shocked her.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"It's better without words." He said in an "I told you so" kind of manner.

"You're right." She said as she stretched one last time before curling up to face him.

"Hey Ror?" He asked slowly.

"Hmm."

"Have you ever thought about the two of us…living together?" Her eyes opened wide.

"The thought hadn't crossed my mind, no." She tried to read his expression, but it was more thoughtful than telling. "Why?" She needed more information. Shrugging, he finally turned to face her.

"This week has been fun. I mean, we don't have to do it right away or anything, it's just something to think about." He seemed really calm about it considering he had never lived with anyone before.

"I'll think about it."

OOOOO

Her pro/con list was mocking her. Both sides were tied as she analyzed Tristan's proposition. The last and only time Rory had ever lived with a guy was with Logan. She had been desperate at the time, but it ended up working kind of nicely. She had thought about Tristan and what this would mean for their relationship. More time together versus less sleep from getting up in the middle of the night when his pager would go off, back and forth, back and forth. Until she thought of something that she hadn't factored in. Did she actually want to? Thinking back to their first weekend together, Rory smiled. She could be like that with him every day. She decided to add it to the pro side when her phone rang. It was her mother.

"Hi." Rory said as she tucked the phone under her jaw and walked into the living room.

"Luke is home." Lorelei said happily. "And he brought me a present."

"Oh really? What is it?"

"A diamond ring." Rory stopped dead in her tracks. "We're getting married!" Squealing with joy, the two women danced around.

"I'm so happy for you Mom."

"Me too kid. I've got to go, but I love you."

"Bye!" She was smiling like a fool when a knock came on the door. Figuring it was Tristan, she quickly hid the list under a pile of work stuff and told him to come in.

"You're never going to guess what mom just told me." She said as she looked up. It was Chris.

"What?" He said.

"Dad! I thought you were Tristan. Never mind." She said as she waved it off. "How are you?" She asked with a hug.

"I'm good, how are you?"

"I'm great." Chris eyed his daughter and realized that she looked exactly like Lorelei did when she had a secret.

"So, what did your mom just tell you that you were so eager to tell Tristan, but now has you looking like you've seen a ghost?" Another knock on the door saved Rory from telling her father the news. This time, Tristan entered. With a quick kiss, Rory invited him inside.

"I don't think you two have met. Dad, this is Tristan DuGray. Tris, this is my dad Christopher Hayden." Tristan saw how nervous she was, but shook Chris's hand anyway.

"Pleasure to meet you sir."

"Please, don't call me sir. Chris will do just fine." He said with a smile. "Although I believe that Rory here had some news for you." He said, turning the attention back to Rory. Making something up, she turned to Tristan.

"I decided to move in." She said. Tristan knew that this wasn't the thing that had Rory looking pale, but her eyes begged him to play along. "My lease is up at the end of the month anyway, so it seems like the perfect time."

"Good." He said with a smile. "We can start packing your stuff this weekend."

"Great, hey, do you guys want something to drink?" She asked as she looked at the two men who clearly knew something was up.

"I'll take a soda." Chris said, figuring that they needed to talk in private.

"Okay, Tristan?"

"Water's fine." Rory literally ran out of the room.

"Did I interrupt something?" Tristan asked Chris. He just shook his head.

"When I walked through the door, she thought I was you and said that I would never guess what Lorelei had just told her…then she realized it was me and freaked out. I have no idea what is going on, but clearly, I'm not supposed to know. Why don't you go help her with the drinks." Tristan nodded.

"I'll see what I can do." He walked into the kitchen to find Rory on the floor in the corner talking on her cell. "Need any help?" He mouthed. She motioned for him to stay and he began getting the drinks that they needed.

"Chris, you want ice?" Tristan asked, poking his head out of the kitchen.

"Yes, please." He said nonchalantly. Tristan disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Oh my God!" Rory said, still on the floor.

"Mare, what is going on." He asked as he crouched down in front of her.

"Mom's engaged, she just told me, and I almost told Dad. Now Mom wants me to tell him if I want to…what is that supposed to mean? Of course I don't want to, but he knows that something is going on and isn't this kind of news supposed to be done in person by the person?"

"Hey, take a breath." She did, but only because he commanded it. He helped her stand up. "You don't have to tell him."

"Yeah, I do." She said, grabbing the drinks off of the counter.

"Okay, I'll stick it out in here." He said.

"No! Please, come with me." She begged. He looked hesitant, but once again, for better or worse he was at her beck and call.

"Fine. I'll come with you." He said.

"Thank you!" She took a deep breath and walked back out into the living room.

"There you are, I was just about to send a search party." Chris said as he took the drink from Rory.

"Okay, I know I'm the world's worst liar, a trait I didn't get from either parent." She sidebarred to Tristan. "But I had to ask permission before I could tell you what I'm about to tell you." She said again.

"Secret call to Lorelei, got it." Chris smiled. "And she gave you permission?" Rory nodded.

"Dad, she's engaged." She said bluntly, figuring there was no nice way to say it. "It just happened two seconds before you walked in the door, and I didn't know if they were telling people so I didn't want to spread the word if it wasn't okay with Mom first."

"To Luke?" He asked for clarification. Rory nodded.

"She's so happy, Dad."

"Good, she deserves it."

"Yeah, she does." Rory agreed. Tristan watched the interaction between the two. In Chris's eyes, Tristan saw a little bit of himself. Although better disguised, Chris was giving the impression of Tristan's feelings in high school whenever he watched Rory talk about Dean. Pinpointing the feeling, he glanced over at Rory. Chris was feeling inadequate. He didn't deserve Lorelei and yet, he loved her like he would never love anyone. How would Tristan react if he got the news that the love of his life was engaged to someone else? He would probably go on a bender and then try to drunkenly kick the other guy's ass, which would only continue the cycle of inadequacy. Lost in his thoughts, he realized that he hadn't been listening to the conversation the two had been having. When Chris stood up, Tristan decided he better start paying attention.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Rory asked.

"I can't. I've got to get home to Gig, but call me and we'll all go out sometime."

"That'd be great." Tristan said.

"You both are welcome anytime." Rory said with a smile. "Although, I won't be living here much longer, will I?" She realized.

"Anytime." Tristan told Chris with a smile.

"See you later kid," Chris said as he kissed Rory's forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too." She said.

"Bye Tristan."

"Nice meeting you." Tristan waved as he wrapped his arm around Rory's shoulder. As soon as the door closed, Rory collapsed into Tristan's arms.

"I should never have had to do that."

"No, but you handled it well." He said as he kissed the top of her head. "It's not your fault that he's still in love with her." She nodded.

"Yeah actually, it is." She said. The pain in her voice was evident as she walked away from Tristan.

"Whoa, whoa, back up. What are you talking about?" He said, following her down the hall to her bedroom.

"If they hadn't had me, they would have had closure a long time ago. I screwed up any chance they had of being together."

"Rory, look at me." He said as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "You, Miss Rationality, are being completely irrational. Yes, your existence changed the course of their lives. But if you asked them, they wouldn't change a thing."

"I highly doubt that." She said as she sat down on the bed. Tristan took a deep breath as he tried to get his point across.

"You've changed everyone's life for the better, including mine." He said as he sat down next to her. She smiled. "I don't know where I would be without you."

"Now you're just trying to make me feel better." He shook his head and paused, as if considering what he actually wanted to tell her. Rory saw the look and her reporter instincts went into overdrive. "Hey, what is it?" She reminded him.

"Do you remember right before Romeo and Juliet when I got suspended?" Rory nodded. "I wasn't suspended. I was in a weeklong rehab retreat."

"What?"

"I got into a fight with my dad, went out, got drunk, started driving and crashed my car." Rory closed her eyes and put a hand over her mouth. "I was fine but the judge wanted me to learn my lesson. As you know, I didn't. But in between the crash and leaving for military school, you were there, telling me that I could be a better person, that Duncan and Bowman didn't have what I had going for me. Even when you didn't know me, you saw right through me. You were the first person to see something more in me than I did in myself." She brushed the stray tear off of her cheek and nodded. "You're always saying that I'm your superhero, but that's not true, you saved me."

"This is why you told me I had no right talking about your relationship with your dad." She realized. "I had no idea that things were that bad."

"I should have told you sooner. Like I said before, I hate talking about it." He sighed. "I never talked to my dad again after I left for military school."

"What about when you came back from Baltimore? Before he died?"

"It was like a business deal. I dealt with the doctors because my mom couldn't handle it, but otherwise we might as well have been strangers. I wasn't there when he died and I went to the funeral because my mom made me."

"Tristan," Suddenly, every conversation they had had about his family made perfect sense. "you've been walking around for years with all of this on your shoulders?" He didn't say anything. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just appreciate the fact that you have two parents who love you, okay?" He asked. She nodded and wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you." She whispered before kissing his forehead. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by her love. He looked into her eyes, which were so comforting and he got lost for a minute.

"Still?" He asked, only half-joking.

"There is nothing in this world that you could tell me that would make me love you less." She comforted him.

"You either." He thought about it. "This is the real thing, isn't it?" He stated as he looked at her. "The unconditional, you and me forever, kind of thing?" Rory looked at her hands before meeting his gaze.

"Yeah." She said, her stomach in knots. "I guess so." Tristan nodded slowly, processing everything that had just happened. "What are you thinking?" She asked.

"That I don't want to screw this up."

"Impossible."

"You don't know that."

"You're my superhero." She said with a mischievous grin.


	11. Chapter 11

Rory sighed as she paced around the living room looking at all of Tristan's stuff and wondering what she was going to do. Tristan wasn't off work until midnight and she was done with her article. Deciding that she was going to slowly go crazy if she didn't do something, she thought a nice bath might help her relax. She ran her water and slipped into the tub. It wasn't much later that she heard footsteps. Sitting up, she wondered who it could be. Tristan wasn't supposed to be back yet.

"Ror?" She let out a sigh of relief as Tristan's voice found its way into the bathroom.

"Taking a bath!" She yelled. "What are you doing home?" She asked as he opened the door and peered around it.

"I got someone to cover the rest of my shift." He said with a smile as he entered the room.

"Is anyone going to die because you are here?" She asked.

"Have you unpacked the last of your boxes yet?" Tristan asked.

"Touché." She muttered slowly. "But it's only been a couple weeks."

"A month."

"Fine, a month. But you should forget that and join me, I just got in, the water is still hot."

"I don't take bubble baths." He said.

"What do you mean, you don't take bubble baths?"

"I'm a guy, we don't take bubble baths." He was being kind of moody, a trait she rarely saw from him, so she let it go.

"Then you can just sit here and watch me enjoy my bath." She said. He nodded as he sat down on the toilet. "How was your shift?" Tristan shrugged.

"It was good. Troy and Sarah are still together."

"That's a good thing." She said with a smile.

"I don't know. Sarah's not doing well." Rory caught the flash of emotion cross Tristan's countenance before he quickly changed the subject. "How was your night?" He asked.

"It was fine." He didn't buy it. "I was bored." She caved as Tristan smiled. "Hence the bath."

"You were bored, so you were going to sit in hot water?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I could've found a way to entertain myself." She said. Tristan thought about that answer for about three seconds before he looked at her again.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" He said, surprised. She rolled her eyes.

"You do realize that not everyone has a one-track mind like you do, right?"

"I've heard rumors." He shrugged.

"And yet you passed up the opportunity to get naked with your girlfriend." She tsked. "You must be coming down with something." He laughed. "Hand me a towel?" She asked as she stood up. The water was dripping down her body, causing the bubbles that were sticking to her skin to slowly dissolve. They slid down her skin and fell back into the tub. Tristan's eyes went black as he scanned her wet and naked body. One look in his eyes and she knew that she was not getting that towel. He wrapped his arm around her waist and plucked her out of the tub.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a squeal as her body soaked through Tristan's clothes.

"Correcting the situation." He said as she laughed.

OOOOO

"I know it's soon, but Mom's adamant. She's getting married in December. Well she wants snow." Rory said into her phone. Tristan walked through the front door and saw his girlfriend covered in files and pads of paper. She had a pencil stuck through her hair and a pen in her hand and she looked like she had been there a while. Chuckling to himself, he set down his bag and walked over to the couch. He loved the fact that he got to come home to her every day. It made his day twenty times better just seeing her face when he walked through the door. Giving her a quiet kiss on the top of her head, he walked back into the bedroom to take a shower and change. He was on ER duty today and wanted nothing more than to collapse.

After his shower, he threw on an old pair of sweats and a t-shirt and went back into the living room to find Rory.

"Hey," she said as he emerged from the hallway. "How was your day?"

"Long, how was yours?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

"Busy. I had no idea planning a wedding took this much work!" He smiled.

"How is your mom holding up?"

"Pretty good. She wants to just elope, but because it's her first marriage, that's not an option. I'm not allowing it."

"Good for you." He yawned. "I was thinking of ordering Chinese for dinner, what do you think?"

"Sounds perfect." She examined his face and put her hand on his face. "Are you okay?" He nodded.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." He said.

"You're pale." She said. "And clammy. Are you sure you feel okay?"

"I'm a doctor. I would know if I were getting sick." He said with a smile. "But thank you for your concern."

OOOOO

Two hours later, Tristan was horizontal on the couch, thermometer in his mouth and covered in a blanket.

"102." Rory said as she took the thermometer out of his mouth.

"How is that possible? I was feeling just fine when I got home from work." Rory shrugged.

"Can I get you anything?" He sighed, knowing the right answer to give, but hating to say it.

"Some water? I should stay hydrated."

"Okay, I'll be right back." He sighed. If there was anything he hated more than being sick, it was being wrong about being sick. He grabbed the remote and flipped to ESPN. "Here you go," Rory handed him a bottle of water and some ibuprofen.

"Thanks." He said as he followed the pills with a long swig of water.

"You're welcome." She said. She settled into the chair next to him and picked up her latest book. A chapter later, Tristan got up from the couch and ran into the bathroom. Rory sighed. She couldn't help him with that. Vomit made her throw up just as much as the person who was sick. She walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Puking." Tristan said before quickly throwing up again. She waited outside the door until she heard him washing his face.

"Come on," she said, "I'll set you up in the bedroom." He shook his head.

"The couch is better." He said. "You can have the bedroom."

"I am not getting sick." She said. "The sheets I can wash, the couch I cannot." She said as she steered him towards the bed. She helped him get tucked in and she turned on the TV to ESPN again. "TV. Check. Garbage can, check." She said as she moved it to his side of the bed. "I'll bring you some clear soda, it will help settle your stomach." He closed his eyes and nodded.

"Ror?" He said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She smiled.

"You're welcome. Now go to sleep." She said as she turned off the light. He did just as he was told.

OOOOO

"And he's up." Rory said as Tristan walked into the kitchen the next morning. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Not really." He said. "There's just nothing left to throw up." He muttered as he took out some more soda from the fridge.

"I'm sorry." She said. "How's the fever?"

"101." He said as left again. She couldn't help but chuckle at his situation. He was clearly sicker than he realized because Rory was standing in the kitchen, wearing only a t-shirt of his and he didn't even notice. She blamed the fever, he was obviously delusional. Grabbing an ice pack out of the freezer, Rory wrapped it in a towel and followed Tristan back to the bedroom.

"Here," She said. "Put this on your forehead, it'll help." He took the bag from her and noticed her attire.

"Damn, you look hot." He muttered as he settled back into bed. "Remind me when I can see straight again that I want to have sex with you like that." She smiled.

"Whatever you say dear." She said sweetly. "Are you drinking your water?" She asked as she noticed the bottle on the bedside table.

"Yes." He said, as if he were a patient.

"Good. I'll bring you some more." She said. "And maybe some crackers?" She asked, hopeful. Tristan shook his head.

"Too much, too soon." He groaned at the thought of eating anything.

"Fine, but tell me when you think you can eat again." She said. "I don't want you wasting away." She started rifling through the closet for something to wear.

"No," he groaned. "Stay like that forever."

"I've got an interview with Mike Levrett today at UCONN. I could stay like this but…" She started getting dressed.

"As in the expected number one draft pick and part time model for the NCAA?"

"Maybe?" She said, not really knowing the answer.

"Why are you interviewing him? Isn't that the sports writer's job." Rory glared at him. "Oh, like that's insulting? Do you even know what a ground rule double is?" He asked, his sickness eliminating any filter he would usually put in between his brain and mouth.

"No." She shook her head. "But that's not the point. He's started a charity and it's a human interest piece."

"As in humans are interested in his batting average and supermodel looks."

"This is a big story, could we at least try to be helpful, especially after I just took care of you when you were all sick and whiny, please?" She asked as she slipped on another earring.

"Okay fine." He said. "But don't let him try and charm you with his un-diseased, perfect ten, collegiate body."

"When I have you at home?" She smiled sweetly. "I wouldn't dare think of it."

"I'm serious."

"No, you're delusional and you're taking it out on me." She said with a smile. "But I love you, so it's okay. And because I'm such an amazing girlfriend, I'm going to forget that you mentioned anything."

"That's probably for the best." He said as he watched her apply some lipstick in the mirror.

"Okay, I love you, I'll be back in a couple of hours. If you need anything, my cell phone will be on, please call it. If I don't answer, it's only because I'm having hot, hot college sex with a future member of the Red Sox." She said as she dabbed the corner of her mouth, fixing a smudge.

"Not funny!" He shouted as he heard her leave the apartment.

OOOOO

Rory came home a few hours later with some chicken soup for Tristan. She was surprised to see the top of his head sticking over the top of the chair in the living room.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked as she took off her coat. "I brought you some soup." When he didn't answer, she looked over at him. "Is everything okay?" She asked. When she came around to look at him, she noticed that his eyes were bloodshot.

"I called in sick to work. They told me that Sarah died during surgery this morning." Rory's heart fell to her stomach.

"Oh Tris…" She sat down on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. "I'm so sorry."

"She was sick." He shrugged. "There wasn't anything that we could have done."

"That doesn't make it hurt any less." She sighed. "Her poor family. And Troy? I can't imagine." Tristan pushed her off his leg and stood up. "Tris, talk to me." She commanded.

"There's nothing to say." He said as he grabbed his glass of the coffee table and started to walk away.

"And if there were something to say?" She implied. "What happened to talking about these things with me?" She asked as she followed him into the kitchen. He threw his arms out, frustrated with her nagging.

"Can we not do this now, please?" He begged as he turned around. Rory couldn't reply because she was too busy staring at the glass of ice in his hand.

"Tristan." He followed her gaze to his hand.

"Oh my God, you think I'm fucking drinking? It's Sprite!" He said as he threw the glass into the sink. Rory flinched as it shattered against the silver basin of the sink.

OOOOO

"I'm sorry." She said as she crept her way into bed that night. He just watched as she sat down at his bedside. "I'm sorry that your favorite patient died, I'm sorry that you feel like you can't talk to me about it, I'm sorry that I freaked out and mostly I'm sorry that you don't have plastic glasses." He couldn't fight the brief smile that appeared at her joke. "Can you forgive me?"

"Always." He said as he raised his arm so she could settle in next to him.

"Thank you." She was just about to fall asleep when Tristan whispered against the top of her hair.

"I know that I can talk to you about anything. And someday I will. Just not right now." She nodded.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed her temple and settled in, ready for sleep.

OOOOO

Rory sat in the waiting room patiently waiting for Tristan to get off of work. They were supposed to be going to Stars Hollow for the weekend, but of course, he was running late.

"Are you waiting for someone?" The lady next to her asked. Rory smiled and shook her head.

"My boyfriend's a doctor here, and running late."

"What's his name? I know them all. My daughter used to be a patient here."

"Tristan, Dr. DuGray." She corrected herself. She still couldn't get used to saying that. The lady got a knowing look on her face.

"I thought it was you." She said with a sad smile. "You're the spitting image of my Sarah." Rory looked confused.

"You're Sarah's mom?" Rory asked. The woman nodded.

"Dr. DuGray told us that his girlfriend had the same big blue eyes that she could use to get whatever she wanted. And then he preceded to teach her how to use them." Rory laughed.

"Did it work?"

"She got everything she asked for."

"That's Tristan. Always using his powers for evil." Rory shook her head at his mischievous antics.

"Not always." The woman said with a smile. "He was the best thing that ever happened to Sarah in this hospital."

"He was devastated when she died."

"He talked to me about it, after the funeral." She reached into her purse and pulled out a photo. "Will you give him this?" Rory reached out for the photo. It was Tristan, with Troy and Sarah. Rory was taken aback at how similar she and Sarah looked. She did have the same eyes, but also the same nose, mouth and Rory was pretty certain that there used to be the same brown hair.

"I want him to have it." She said, breaking Rory out of her analysis of the photo.

"You should give it to him. He would want to talk to you. I'm sure he won't be much longer." She shook her head.

"I've spent too much time in this hospital as it is." She smiled. "You've got a good man. Don't let him go."

"I won't."

"Good." She nodded as she stood up. "It was nice meeting you." Rory added as she began to walk away.

"Bye now." Rory sat and stared at the picture in front of her and remembered that first meeting with Gigi. How could someone be so open with kids, with dying patients, but find it so difficult to talk to his own girlfriend about the issues that really mattered?

"I know, I know, I'm a half an hour late." Tristan said as he walked up to her. He knew that she would be upset. Things had been rough with them lately and Tristan didn't want to do anything else to provoke a fight. Rory stood up and gave him a kiss that was full of appreciation. He pulled away and looked at her curiously. "What was that for?"

"For being you." She handed him the picture in her hand. "This is for you." She said as she wrapped her arm around his and took his bag from him.

"Where did you get this?" He asked.

"Sarah's mom. Come on, we'll talk in the car." She smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

A/N: First of all, if you can't remember this story, I don't blame you, I had to go back and reread it myself. Because it has been years since I updated…okay, not years, but a long time. I'm giving you two flashbacks to remind everyone where we are…including me. Hehe. No seriously.

_**Previously on Gilmore Girls:**_

"_I've got an interview with Mike Levrett today at UCONN."_

"_As in the expected number one draft pick and part time model for the NCAA?"_

"_Maybe?" She said, not really knowing the answer._

"_Don't let him charm you with his un-diseased, perfect ten, collegiate body." Tristan said._

_OOOOO_

"Will you give him this?" Rory reached out for the photo. It was Tristan, with Troy and Sarah. Rory was taken aback at how similar she and Sarah looked. She did have the same eyes, but also the same nose, mouth and Rory was pretty certain that there used to be the same brown hair.

"_I want him to have it." Sarah's mother said, breaking Rory out of her analysis of the photo._

OOOOO

"I can't believe she gave you this." Tristan said, looking at the picture again.

"She wanted you to have it." Rory said, glancing to the passenger side of her car. "You know, I was surprised at how similar we looked, Sarah and me." She mentioned casually. Tristan nodded.

"Oh yeah…I guess I hadn't noticed." Rory knew that was a lie, but she left it alone. "So are we dressing up for this thing or not?" Tristan asked as he put the picture away.

"No, it's just going to be a party at the Inn. Sookie and Jackson have a bounty of crops they are making a spooky feast with." He nodded. "Although, I suppose Mom will have some sort of tricks up her sleeves." Tristan laughed. He could only imagine what antics Lorelei could get into.

"I'm excited to get away for a weekend. We haven't done it in a while." He said as he reached for her free hand. She nodded.

"I got my story done and my editor was so excited about it, he gave me this week off."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm planning on finally tackling the last of my moving boxes." She said with a teasing grin.

"Good." Tristan was glad that she would finally settle into his place. He wanted her to feel like it was hers too.

"Here we are." She said as she turned onto her old street. Tristan laughed as he saw the decorated house, which already had a good haunted house look as it was with it's large porch and double story frame. Lorelei spared no expense when it came to celebrating.

"Is that a noose in the tree?" He asked, trying to get a better view.

"Oh yeah. Babbette always hangs Maury…you know, to scare the kids." She said as if it were common. Tristan just shook his head.

"Stars Hollow never disappoints." He muttered as he opened his car door.

"You sound surprised! It's the home of the Gilmore Girls. You should know things like this by now." Rory said as she kissed his cheek.

OOOOO

"God, we must have ate the entire town's supply of vegetables tonight." Lorelei said as she moved slowly to the couch. "Why did you let me eat that much?" She asked Luke. He looked at her confused.

"She's worried she won't fit into her dress." Rory helped Luke out, knowing that was what she was getting at.

"You will too. And I've been trying to dictate your eating habits for the past ten years, why would you think that I would have any success now?"

"Oh yeah." Lorelei smiled. "Silly me."

"Come on, let's go home." Luke said, taking her hand. "We'll work off all that we ate tonight." He whispered.

"Dirty." She muttered with a smirk as she followed him out the front door. "Bye kids!"

"Bye Mom." Rory called. "Well, upstairs?"

"So soon? Either you have very dirty plans or you have reading to catch up on. I'm going to go with the latter." Tristan guessed. Rory nodded.

"You know me so well." She started up the steps and Tristan stood at the bottom, simply watching her walk. "You coming?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said with a small smile.

OOOOO

Rory had been sitting next to him in bed for the last half an hour watching him. From the looks of the magazine long forgotten in his lap, it was clear that he was deep in thought.

"Are you okay?" She finally asked. He sighed and closed his eyes before glancing over at her.

"I noticed." Tristan said simply as he took off his reading glasses.

"What?" Rory was clearly confused.

"Today in the car, when I said that I never noticed how similar you and Sarah looked. I noticed." Rory tried to read his expression, but she couldn't quite make it out.

"Okay." She said hesitantly.

"I think it's the reason that I got so caught up in her case. And it wasn't just her looks, it was her entire attitude. Every time I looked at her, I saw you ten years ago." Rory didn't know what to say. "I really wanted her to get better." He admitted.

"Of course you did." She knew that this was hard for him and now that they were finally talking, she didn't want to force him to discuss it anymore. "You don't have to explain any…"

"No, it's okay. I told you that I would talk when I was ready, and now I'm ready. It's time to get over it." He said. She nodded for him to continue. "Remember when my mom said that I was always driven?" Rory smiled. "She wasn't kidding. Sometimes, it can be a bad thing. I get tunnel vision and with her case, it was pretty bad. So when she died, that empty room…it killed me too."

"I know."

"And when things get to me, I shut down. I always have."

"I know that too." She said, unable to hide the disdain in her voice. "Why is that?"

"I have no idea." He thought about it. "I guess it started as self-preservation and now I'm slowly figuring out how to dismantle it. I know that this relationship is hard work for you," He said.

"No, it's really not." She said.

"But you always catch me at the worst times in my life. What's up with that?" He asked. She shrugged. "You are always there when I need you. It's a strange concept, but it's one that I'm thankful for."

"People don't always leave, Tristan." She sighed. "I know that I can be…" she searched for the right word, "relentless in my curiosity." He laughed. "But I ask these questions because, well A) I can't help myself." He smiled. "And B) Because I care about what's best for you. I want you to be happy."

"I know you do."

"And I'm not leaving." She said adamantly.

"Really?" He said, teasing her.

"You're going to have to kill me first."

"Til death huh? Well it's a little sudden but okay." He said with a smile.

"You know what I meant." She said in her mother voice. The one that said she wasn't going to play along with his teasing.

"Yeah. If I asked you to marry me right now, you would run out of this room so fast…"

"If you proposed to me right now, I would hit you over the back of your head for doing it while we were both in our pajamas." He laughed. "Why, you planning on asking?" She thought he was joking, so she laughed at his suggestion.

"Maybe I am." He said with a smirk. She couldn't hide the stillness that overcame her as her body tensed at his answer. "Tonight reminded me for the first time in a while that I should focus on all that I have, and not all that I've lost." He looked into her eyes. "But you don't want to marry me right now." Remembering to breathe, she took a deep breath and sighed.

"No." She said a little too honestly. He laughed at her. "What? I don't!" She said, defending her reaction.

"Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." Rory smiled.

"Instead, I'm going to start appreciating the small stuff, like the fact that I get to lay here next to you and feel you worrying about what a screwed up mess I am."

"Well," Rory smiled as she leaned in close. "You may be a mess." His gaze flickered between her moving lips and her eyes. "But you are my mess and I love you." He could hardly wait for her to finish talking before bridging the gap between them and kissing her intensely. He didn't realize that he took her breath away when he kissed her like that. She giggled as he began to kiss her neck, one kiss never enough for him.

"I love you too." He mumbled against her skin, happy that the talking they had been doing lately had finally come to a close.

OOOOO

When Tristan woke up the next morning, things were perfect. Rory was snoozing comfortably on his chest, her arm draped over his stomach. Tristan watched as she stirred and clung closer to him.

"Good morning." He said as he kissed the top of her head.

"Breakfast." She mumbled.

"Started half an hour ago."

"Sookie's breakfast." She said a little more coherently. "Coffee." At her sad attempt to sit up, Tristan pulled her close again.

"Bed." He said as he kissed her. "Boyfriend."

"Mmm. Touché." She settled back on top of him, this time using his shoulder as a pillow. Her stomach growled and she giggled, hiding her face in his chest. "It's because of all the hard work we did last night."

"Glad to know some of my skills are effective." He chuckled. "Because my persuasion skills clearly need some more work."

"Oh don't worry." She said with a dirty smile. "That definitely still works." He laughed. "Come on, we both need a shower." She said as she crawled out of bed.

"See, now that was persuasive." He said as she rolled her eyes.

OOOOO

"Hey Ror." Lorelei said as they came down the steps. "Can I talk to you for a second, about the wedding." She added when Tristan gave her a funny look.

"Sure. I'll meet you in there." She told him as she followed her mom to the front desk. "What's going on?"

"The Sunday paper came today."

"On Sunday? How dare they?!" She said with a giggle.

"Page Six." Lorelei said as she handed her daughter the paper. Rory opened it and was surprised by her photo. It was from her interview with Mike Levrett, and it definitely looked suspicious. She read the headline.

_Is Levrett playing off the field as well? _

_The All-star collegiate baseball player, and part time model, was caught having a lunch date with a pretty brunette this week at a local café in Hartford. Both were seen laughing and holding hands at the (very public) sidewalk table. The woman, who could not be identified, left with a kiss on the cheek. Could this be the reason that the much desired college senior did not enter the draft earlier? We will have to wait and see._

"Oh my God." Rory was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. She was just about to speak when Tristan walked into the room. From the look on his face, he had seen the paper already.

"Tristan, please, let me explain!" She cried.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Oh my God." Rory was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. She was just about to speak when Tristan walked into the room. From the look on his face, he had seen the paper already. "Tristan, please, let me explain!" She cried. "This isn't true!" She said, slamming the paper down on the desk.

"Well, it seems pretty black and white, Ror. Especially when it's printed in the New York Times." He said in a voice that was a little too serious. Suddenly realizing that he was teasing her. She hit him as hard as she could.

"It's not funny!" At her shocked reaction, he couldn't help but laugh, and wince, as he rubbed his arm.

"Not even a little? I mean, it is my Mary they are talking about." He said as he tried to wrap an arm around her.

"No!" She shrugged him off. "Do you know how many people read this?" She told him as she collapsed on the closest chair. "If my boss reads this, which he will, I could get fired." Realizing that she was actually concerned about the matter, Tristan got serious.

"Ror, it's Page Six, he's not going to take it seriously. Any one who has met you knows what caliber of a person you are. No one who knows you is going believe this garbage."

"You don't know that!" She said, reaching for her cell phone. She went out back and Tristan fought the urge to follow her. He looked at Lorelei, who saw his muscles tense as she left the room.

"She'll be fine." She said. "I think. Just let her spaz out a little."

"I hope so." He sighed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lorelei asked. "You know that this is completely false right?" Tristan laughed.

"Yeah." The thought of Rory cheating on anyone was hysterical in his mind. "Nothing about Rory is scandalous." Lorelei just gave him a look and smiled. He clearly didn't realize what he had just said.

"So then what's with the face?" She was intruding, but that was in her job description as mother. It came with the territory.

"Things were finally getting good, you know?" He shook his head. "We've had a rough couple of weeks and things were finally settling back down."

"They'll settle again."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Rory's just cares about things like this. It's probably my fault. Her very existence was scandalous. I think that's part of the reason she tries so hard to be good, besides the fact that she's brilliant of course." She added with a grin.

OOOOO

"Okay, I think I've finally gotten everything sorted out." Rory said as she emerged nearly an hour after she had left.

"Good, you need to sit down and eat some of these." Tristan said as he loaded up her plate with eggs and pancakes. "I don't know what she does, but damn…" He went back to concentrating on getting her food.

"Thanks but no thanks, but I'm not hungry anymore." She said. Tristan looked at her like she was crazy. He looked at the food in his hand and again at her.

"We both know that isn't true." He said. "So talk."

"My editor is calling for a retraction of the story, and Levrett's people are too but the damage has been done. I'm going to be known as 'That girl' for a really long time."

"Hey, first of all, there is no reason for you to be known at all. People most likely won't recognize you from the photo, there is no name linked with it, and once people read your story they will know that you were just doing your job. Besides, there will be a new story out in a few days and people will completely forget about this one." A smile broke out on her face for the first time that day. "What?"

"Superhero" was all she said. He didn't bother correcting her when she called him that anymore, he just changed the subject.

"Now eat, even if you aren't hungry, this is Sookie's food we're talking about."

"Yes sir." She said with a smile.

OOOOO

"How are you doing?" Lorelei asked Rory later when they were alone. She needed to talk to her daughter one on one and sending Tristan to the market for movie supplies seemed like a perfect way to get the two away from each other.

"Good. I just needed the time to realize that it really wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was."

"Tristan seemed to think it was downright unbelievable." Rory nodded. "You haven't told Tristan about Dean, have you?" Her mother voice was kicking in again for the second time that day.

"Why do you ask?"

"He basically said that the idea of you cheating on anyone was ridiculous."

"Well it is! I would never do that to Tristan. Besides, he knows that Dean and I dated in college. He also knows that I lost my virginity to him."

"Does he know that Dean was married at the time?" She asked. Rory didn't say anything. "Rory! You have to tell him. When people see this article, your history with Dean is going to come up, especially in this town."

"No I don't. He knows the important stuff."

"This IS the important stuff."

"I don't want to hurt him."

"You don't want to ruin his perfect image of you. I get it, Ror. But what if he finds out later from somebody else? What is that going to do to him?"

"Mom, he loves me, unconditionally. I know that."

"Then he should know all the conditions. If he loves you as much as he seems to, there will be no problems telling him."

OOOOO

Tristan picked up a variety of junk food for movie night, and was heading for the counter when he heard his name. He stopped and listened, although pretending to be reading labels.

"She wouldn't do that to Tristan!" Miss Patty defended Rory.

"Well you know how the whole thing with Dean played out." Babette whispered harshly.

"Yeah, but Rory was the other woman in that triangle. Dean had to do all the lying to his wife. She wouldn't lie to her boyfriend like that, especially someone like him. He's good for her."

"You didn't believe it the first time she had an affair, why would you believe it the second time?"

"I refuse to believe it. After all these years, to have another affair. She's a smart girl. She would have learned her lesson."

Tristan couldn't move. Rory was the other woman? He couldn't wrap his mind around that thought so he shoved it aside. They were suggesting that Rory had had an affair with Dean. They were more than suggesting, it sounded pretty certain that they had. Walking slowly towards the counter, Miss Patty inhaled sharply at the sight of seeing Tristan. He glanced over, much better at lying than most people.

"Hey, how are you two?"

"Honey, how are you?" Miss Patty asked. "We saw the paper this morning."

"Oh, that nonsense? Rory was writing an article for the paper. Some papparrazi took a photo and assumed they were dating. Rory's pretty upset about it, but apparently the paper is going to retract it with an apology, so hopefully it won't be spun too out of control."

"So she's taking it pretty hard?"

"No, she was just shocked. It's hard for her to imagine anyone writing a story with no facts, but that's why she's so good at what she does." He smiled.

"Will you tell her that we are sorting out the mess?" Babette said.

"I know she'd appreciate it. See you around." He picked up his bag and left the store.

OOOOO

"I'm sorry I freaked out this morning." Rory said as they strolled around Stars Hollow.

"I think it was an legitimate reaction." Tristan said, surprised she was apologizing. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I want to explain it." She said, unable to know where to start. "I never really told you about what happened with my relationship with Dean." Taking a deep breath, he knew that this was going to be relevant.

"No. In fact, the only thing I know is that you broke up with him before we kissed at Madelyn's party, got back together with him in a very dramatic scene in front of Chilton, and apparently broke up again in front of the LDB?" Rory looked at the ground before wrapping her arm in his and settling into his shoulder.

"Yes, another very dramatic scene." She sighed. "Let me fill in the details." She explained the loneliness she felt at the end of her freshman year at Yale, about Dean getting married and the way she felt nostalgic for better times. She explained the test run of the Inn and the actions that ensued after it.

"Hmm." Tristan muttered.

"So when people in this town read that article, whether it's true or not, it's going to bring up the fact that I have done it before. When you said this morning that people who truly knew me would know that I would never…" She stopped, ashamed of herself all over again. "No one is going to be surprised or shocked. No one is going to think that I'm the angel with the halo above my head. They are going to think it's true." She wasn't liking his silence. "Say something. Are you upset?" He stopped and sighed. What was he supposed to say in this situation?

"No." He shook his head.

"What are you thinking?" She asked as she stood in front of him, her big blue eyes racing across his face, desperate to know his thoughts.

"Honestly?" She nodded. "I didn't think you had it in you." He said, watching a car drive by. "I mean, I get it, but you seem so…safe. I didn't think you would like dangerous sex." She started walking again, aware at how well he was handling this situation. "In fact," He said, surprised by his own reaction. "It's kind of hot to think of you doing the whole lunch hour hotel thing. Maybe in the back seat of a car in the woods…" She blushed as Tristan hit the nail right on the head.

"It's not as sexy as it sounds." She assured him.

"Well it is if you're doing it properly." He smirked, extremely confident in the fact that he could please her in ways that Dean couldn't. Rory was pretty confident in that thought too.

"How would you know?" She wanted to know if he had done this before too. It wouldn't surprise her, but she hoped he hadn't.

"I've never been the other man, that I know of," he added for insurance. "But the only kind of good sex you can have in high school is illicit sex." He said. "A lot of good Daddy's girls snuck out of their windows to meet me."

"And did you make it worth their while?" She wanted to know. Tristan just smiled.

"Wanna find out?"

"Yes please." She smiled, wondering what he could possibly come up with on the spot like this.

"Alright." He replied before continuing their walk.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"You can't plan illicit sex." Tristan explained. "It has to be a surprise." He kept walking, leaving his stunned girlfriend behind him.

**A/N:** The next chapter will be rated **M**. It will be purely fluff, and not important to the story line so you can skip it if it bothers you. Just a pre-warning


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**A/N: PLEASE READ: This chapter is rated M.** If you usually do not read M, skip over it. There isn't anyhing that is relevant to the rest of the story and because of this it is way shorter than a normal chapter. This is the only chapter that will have the M rating. Thanks and enjoy!

Rory couldn't believe Tristan's reaction to her confession. Not only did he seem okay with it, he said he thought it was sexy? What was that all about? And now here she was, wondering what kind of scheming he was doing. It had been weeks since their conversation and he still hadn't made a move. Rory should know; she was calculating his every move, but he gave nothing away. She was sitting at her office, staring at the blinking cursor in front of her and wondering about Tristan when she got a text that read:

The Lamplight Motel. Room 212. 1 PM

She smiled. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was 12:30. She quickly replied to his message

I'll see what I can do.

OOOOO

Tristan watched from the window as Rory's car pulled up. He listened to the clunking of her heels against the metal stairs as she climbed to the second floor balcony and slowly opened the door, surprised to find the room unlocked.

"Hey." She said as she looked around the room.

"Hi. Did anyone suspect anything?" Tristan asked cheekily as he made his way over to her. She shook her head. She had taken the rest of the day off, complaining of writer's block and promising to work on her article at home.

"Suspect that I was coming to a dingy motel room to have sex with you?" She smiled. "Of course not."

"Good." He said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss her.

"I told them I was going to meet Levrett." She teased.

"Ouch." He whispered, pulling away but she pulled him back in again. He sighed as she kissed him. He had been deprived of her for almost two weeks, but with each taste of her, he was reminded why he loved her so much. He craved her. It was a simple but insatiable hunger that started in his gut and pulsated throughout his entire body. She pulled away from him and sighed. Slightly surprised by her action, Tristan opened his eyes and examined her. With shaking hands, she reached up and pulled off her shirt and then her skirt. Tristan followed her lead, never taking his eyes off of her.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this." Rory muttered. Tristan looked at her strangely. "You promise no one will ever find out about this?" She asked. The realization dawned on him and he began to play along.

"I promise." He nodded as he pulled her in close once again and kissed her again, his hands roaming the bare expanse of her back before unclasping her bra. His tongue danced against hers, causing a fire to grow within her. She needed this, him, more than anything. With that epiphany, she finally gave herself over to him fully. Sensing her surrender, Tristan moved them to the bed.

"What do you want, Rory?" He wanted to know before continuing. His lips hovered over hers, mere centimeters away, but the loss of his touch was excruciating to her. He watched her chest, heaving beneath him and it took everything he had not to devour her right then and there.

"Please." She arched into him.

"What are you here for?" He asked. "Why did you come?"

"I want you." Satisfied with her answer, his actions became uninhibited. The gentle, slow caresses were now forceful, passionate. His lips and tongue sloppily attacked her neck, his quiet control disappearing before her very eyes. She gasped as she felt his mouth cover her breast, his tongue flicking at her nipple. She arched into him again, desperate for his touch to continue. Her fingers clumsily wrapped themselves in his hair, pushing him lower, a silent begging for release that did not go unnoticed by him. His rough hands slowly made their way down the sides of her torso before coming to a rest on her hips. He paused for a moment to watch her reaction. The anticipation killing her.

"You want this so much don't you?" He whispered harshly as he shoved her panties to her ankles. She simply nodded, unable to speak. He slipped her legs over each of his shoulders and ran his tongue lightly over her wet slit. If there was one thing that Tristan loved most about making love to Rory, it was her taste. There were no words to describe the sweet, tangy mixture that was so uniquely hers. It opened up his senses in a way that he had never experienced with anyone else. Everything seemed heightened when he was with her. As he sucked on her clit, he smiled as he heard her pathetic whimpering, the first sign that she was on her way to an orgasm. He worked faster, dead set on getting her off hard and fast.

Rory couldn't control the moan that escaped as she squeezes her legs around his neck. She rubbed her own breasts, seeking to increase the pleasure rocketing through her body. Her mumblings grew louder as she felt the blissful tension coiling within her abdomen. Tighter and tighter it grew until finally she snapped, her thighs clenching around him as she screamed out her release. While she was still shaking, he lapped up her wetness, cleaning her of her juices thoroughly. She moved her legs off of him and he shoved his boxers off before climbing back up her body.

"God, you are so hot when you come." He muttered as he rubbed his newly freed erection against her thigh. She reached down and stroked him, causing him to clench his jaw in response. Annoyed by his self-control, Rory decided to take some action.

"You can't maintain control forever." She whispered as she rolled them over, so she was on top. Surprised by her action, Tristan let her lead. She kissed his hard chest, running her hands over his taut muscles and grinning in approval. Then, she slipped her way down his body until her lips were level with his rock-hard erection. Glancing up at him naughtily, he couldn't look away as she slowly licked the pre-cum off of his head. Hissing in pleasure at the sensation, he closed his eyes. Her long hair tickled against his hips, causing him to twitch involuntarily. She smiled as she kissed him again, this time blowing air on the wet remains. She took the tip of him fully in her mouth and sucked gently.

"Oh…" He let out, unable to finish his thoughts as he grabbed the headboard behind him and bit down on his lower lip as he thrust instinctively into her mouth. Rory dipped down again, this time taking as much of him as she could into her mouth. Torturing him, she never found a rhythm, simply toyed with him. "Ror, please." He begged as he white-knuckled the headboard. With one last suck, she positioned herself so that she was directly over him.

"What do you want, Tristan?" She asked, taunting him with his earlier question. He didn't answer her, but placed his hands on her hips and slammed her down against him as he thrust up to meet her. Both gasping with the sensation of finally being inside one another, Rory began to circle her hips, moving up and down, meeting Tristan thrust for thrust. There was nothing slow about their movements, both ferociously trying to meet their needs. She leaned forward so that her hands were beside his shoulders, shifting the angle enough that they both cried out in pleasure. Her aching nipples rubbed against his chest every time he entered her, only spurring them on further.

"Fuck yes." Tristan muttered as he felt the pressure beginning to grow. "Just like that." He told her, his hands still firmly on her hips, not letting her change anything. "God that's so…umh" He finished his sentence with a grunt.

"Tristan…" Rory cried out as she felt herself getting closer to the edge. Their worlds exploded around them as they shook together, riding out the intense waves of pleasure. As they came down from their high, Tristan knew that this was the best sex he had ever had. They laid there for a few minutes, unable to move, before finally settling in next to each other. Fighting the urge to look at the clock, Tristan sighed.

"Time's up?" Rory asked, knowing that he had to go back to work.

"Almost." He nodded. "I don't know how I'm going to make it through the rest of the day." He said as he stared at the ceiling. "I'm exhausted." She smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Take a quick shower." She said. "You're going to be late."

"You should join me, when do you have to be back?"

"Remember how well that worked on vacation in North Carolina?" She smiled at the memory. "You made us miss dinner." Tristan laughed.

"But you told me you loved me, so I think that we walked away even." He said with a kiss as he got up off the bed.

"I took the afternoon off so I could go home, take a nice long bath, curl up in bed and sleep for a week." Tristan turned around to face her again.

"So not fair. If we hadn't just had the best sex ever…" he trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"You would what?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, wanting to know how he would punish her. He stared at her for a second.

"I got nothing. Never mind." He said with a scowl, upset that he was unable to prove his point.

"That's what I thought." Rory said victoriously. "Now hit the showers." She said as she pointed towards the bathroom.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the poem, it's my first one since middle school so forgive me.

The time flew by and before Rory knew it, her mother's wedding had arrived. It was the first Saturday in December and the snow was falling gently, as if blessing the event itself.

"It looks like a snow globe outside!" Rory said as she entered the back of the church. Lorelei smiled weakly as she turned around in her dress.

"What do you think?" She asked, wanting help with her veil and other wardrobe issues. Rory just stopped.

"You look so beautiful." Rory said, tearing up.

"No crying." Lorelei said, stubbornly stomping her foot on the floor. "I can't cry yet."

"It's your wedding, you can cry if you want to." Rory said, fixing her mother's train and handing her the flowers.

"Great, now that song's going to be stuck in my head." Lorelei muttered. "Hey, have you seen Luke?" She asked, getting nervous.

"Yep, he's ready and waiting at the front of the church."

"Is he nervous?" Rory shrugged.

"It's Luke, he never shows any emotion."

"True." She said. "Okay, are you ready to give me away?" She asked as she took one last look in the mirror.

"Are you ready to be given away?" Lorelei nodded. They walked to the doors and Rory knocked, letting them know that they were ready. The music started to play and Martha, the flower girl, began walking down the aisle, dropping rose petals everywhere. Sookie and Jackson were both so proud, taking photos and waving at the young girl.

"This is it." Rory said as the march began to play.

"Love you kid." She said as she gave her daughter a big hug.

"Love you too Mom." The entire crowd gasped as Lorelei entered the church. The whole town was there and everyone was emotionally involved. As she walked down the aisle, Lorelei was met with memories of every person in the church, and then she finally allowed herself to lock eyes with Luke. He looked good in his tux. He refused to take his eyes off of her. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"She's all yours Luke." Rory smiled as she handed her mother over to her new stepfather.

"Thanks Rory." He smiled as she stood to the side. She gave a wink to Tristan and turned her attention towards the happy couple. The rest of the ceremony was short, but beautiful and Rory could hardly believe when it ended. She and Jess followed Luke and Lorelei out of the church.

"I guess we're cousins now, huh?" Jess said.

"That's the way it usually works."

"I can handle that." He said with a smile.

"So, what did you write for your speech?" She asked him, unsure of her own writing.

"What speech?" He asked. Rory stopped dead in her tracks. "I'm kidding. I got it." He said as he patted his jacket pocket. She whacked him with her bouquet.

"So not funny."

OOOOO

The party raged on until Rory finally got up and cleared her throat, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, I would just like to say a few words." She said with a smile. "My mother and I met Luke when I was twelve. He had just opened the diner and we quickly became regular customers, partially because neither one of us cooks, and partially because the coffee was out of this world."

"Here, here!" Lorelei said.

"But we kept coming and eventually, Luke became a part of our family. He made me coffeecake on my birthday, he was there when I got the chicken pox and could only eat mashed potatoes for a week, he was there crying at my high school graduation." She teased him as he turned red. "He was there to help me move into Yale, and out of Yale, and back into Yale, never letting me slip through the cracks, and always there to cheer me up with a big cup of coffee. I don't know how or why it happened, but looking back, Luke has always been a father figure to me and to a lot of us in this town. I don't know anyone who would say otherwise. So no, in answer to all of your questions, I don't have to start calling Luke Dad because in a way, I always have. I love you guys." She said as everyone awed around them. Everyone in the room was getting emotional except Richard and Emily, who were looking indifferent to the speech. They both were thinking of Christopher and the family that should have been.

"I guess it's my turn." Jess said, the room got quiet once again mostly out of anticipation of what he would say. "I'm not very good at this whole public speaking thing, so I figured I would let Rory win everyone over and I would just write what I know. This poem came from a conversation I had with Lorelei one day at the diner.

"He wrote us a poem?" Luke asked Lorelei.

"Shhh. Maybe it's dirty!" She said with a twinkle in her eye as she shushed him to listen.

"He was the man in flannel, in the backwards baseball cap,

She was the girl at the counter, always giving him crap.

He kept her from starving, and her house from falling down,

She kept his old heart beating, and wiped away his frown.

He thought that she was insane, a little crazy in the head.

But when she walked in for coffee, she stole his heart instead.

One day he couldn't take it, he just had to ask

And her answer surprised him, "Are you up to the task?"

He swore he was hers forever, and promised to do the work

Now she knows that he must love her, because she's got a lot of quirks.

"It takes a lot" She said, "To give this thing a whirl"

"Lord knows that it's not easy, to love a Gilmore Girl."

Tristan laughed out loud, fully appreciating that last sentence. Rory slapped him, knowing that he was completely right, but still.

"I think that it's going to be easier than you think, Lorelei." Jess said. "Good luck you two." He said as he raised his glass. Rory walked over to Jess and gave him a huge hug.

"Brilliant. I want a copy." She yelled over the music as it began to play. He nodded as Tristan found her, ready to dance.

"That was amazing." Tristan said. "You never told me he wrote poetry."

"I never knew!" She laughed.

OOOOO

"God that was a good wedding." Tristan said as they collapsed in bed.

"Hey, there's only about forty minutes until sunrise, wanna stay up and watch it?" She asked.

"Sure." He laughed. "Why not." She had long kicked off her shoes, but she changed out of her dress and into her pajamas. Tristan threw his jacket on the closest chair and joined her in changing clothes.

"Ah, that feels so much better." She sighed as she found her way into his arms again.

"I agree."

"So what was the best part of the wedding?" Rory asked him, wanting his opinion.

"Kirk singing karaoke." Tristan said with a chuckle. "I had no idea he could sing."

"Mm, that was eventful." He looked down and saw that her eyes were closed and smiled.

"What about you?" He asked, knowing that she was going to be asleep long before the sun rose.

"Jess's speech." She muttered. "He surprised me."

"Yeah, it was good." He paused. "Hey Ror?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we go to sleep?" He asked, even though he wasn't planning on sleeping. He figured he was up for the night, his random doctor hours shining through. In military school he had a tight schedule, but med school had demolished any sense of a system in him. She nodded before curling up tighter against him. He threw a comforter over them. He felt her breathing even out as her chest rhythmically pressed against his. It was in that moment that he knew without a doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life tucking her in. He closed his eyes, letting that certainty wash over him and soon, he was sleeping too.

OOOOO

"Tristan." Rory whispered before blowing gently in his ear. "It's time to wake up." Without opening his eyes, he knew that she was already showered and ready to go. She smelled fantastic.

"Mmm." He muttered as he turned over to ignore her.

"I'm serious, we've got to check out, they need the room."

"What time is it?" He wanted to know.

"One." He groaned out his response as she tore the covers off his body. "Come on, I mean it."

"You are going to make a great mom someday." He said as he sat up. Rory smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a compliment, now move."

"I'm going…" He said as he stood up and walked towards the bathroom.

OOOOO

Later that evening, when they had finally returned home, Rory made dinner, a pleasant change from their usual routine of ordering out.

"You're starting to freak me out." He said as he sat down at the table. "What's with being Suzy Homemaker recently?"

"I don't know." She said. "It just seems to be my mood lately. Don't get used to it." She added with a smile.

"I won't." He said as he started eating. Rory watched him for a second before starting in on her own meal. "This is delicious." He said, sounding surprised. "I'm sorry, why don't you cook more?"

"Pure laziness." She replied honestly. "Oh, your mom called, she wanted to talk to you about your Christmas plans."

"Right, Christmas." He remembered.

"I was thinking that maybe you could invite her to Stars Hollow to spend Christmas with us at the Inn?" Rory mentioned.

"Really?" He asked, unsure of how that would work.

"I know my mom would love to meet her. Plus, it has to be a hard time of the year, now that she's all alone…"

"I'll ask her." He said.

"Good." She smiled as if she had won an argument. Tristan inwardly smiled. They finished their meal in relative silence and he watched as she got up and carried her plate to the sink. He followed her. She started to fill the sink with warm water when she felt two hands on her hips.

"I love you." He whispered. His long fingers swept the hair from off her neck, exposing her flesh to him as if he were a vampire. He kissed her, slowly. She turned off the water and leaned back into him, letting him have his way with her. She was completely at his mercy. He sucked gently on her earlobe and she let out an audible sigh. His hands started to roam as he turned her around to face him. When his lips finally met hers, he relished every taste of her. Their movements were painstakingly slow, leaving a trail of goosebumps covering both of them.

"Tris." She whispered, her eyes fluttering shut as she placed her forehead against his. The need in her voice surprised even her. Without saying a word, he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.

OOOOO

"I love you." She said later as she brushed his hair back and trailed her fingers down the side of his face. He captured her arm, stopping it so he could kiss the soft flesh on the inside of her wrist. "These past six months have been the best of my life."

"We've only been dating for six months." He said, as if realizing it for the first time. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Tris, let me finish?" She asked. He shut up, unaware that she had a point that she was trying to make.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I just…" She paused and started over. "When I told you that I didn't want to marry you right now, that was a lie." He knew how serious she was being and it took him by surprise. "I do want to marry you." She reached into her side table drawer and pulled out his Tiffany box that he had thought he had hidden pretty well in his drawer. He sighed, knowing he had been caught. This is what happened when you lived with a reporter. So much for Christmas…

"When did you…"

"Doesn't matter. Ask me." She said as she handed the box to him.

"Right now? Like this?" She nodded.

"Please?" He sighed and removed the lid. He dumped the velvet box into his other hand and paused. He realized she was tensing up out of anticipation.

"Are you sure?" He asked, just teasing her at this point.

"Yes!" He smiled and opened the box, revealing the ring for the first time.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" She said in the same tone before jumping happily into his arms. He smiled and kissed her.

"Merry Christmas." He said as he slid the ring onto her finger.

"Thank you." She said, proud of herself.

"Are you happy?" He asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded.

"I got your gift too, if you want to open it." He stared at her, debating.

"Well it's only fair." He said. She reached into the drawer again, this time pulling out a long black envelope. She handed it to him and he shook it. "Is it a savings bond?" He teased.

"Just open it." He did and pulled out two tickets, to the Red Sox. "Opening day, box seats, with a chance to meet the players." She said quickly, excited to tell him her news.

"What?" He said, unable to process what she was telling him. "Who did you have to kill to get these?"

"Read the note." He reached back into the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper.

"I hope this clears up any confusion with your boyfriend. It's the least I could do. Mike Levrett." He smiled as he put the note down.

"Are you happy?" She turned the tables on him. His grin was huge. He just shrugged, unable to convey just how happy he was.

"You're the best. Come here." He said, wanting to kiss her some more. She obliged him but pulled away.

"Hey Tris."

"Hmm."

"There's more."

"How could there possibly be more?" She climbed out of bed and reached into the closet. She threw the box at him. Looking down, he was confronted by the Victoria's secret logo. "If I didn't just propose to you…" He said, as he opened the box happily. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Rory smiled at his reaction.

"You like it?" She asked.

"Hurry up." He said as he threw the box back at her. "I want to see you in it once before I rip it off your body." She grinned.

"Best Christmas ever." She smiled before heading into the bathroom.

"Best Christmas ever." He agreed.

A/N: Okay, this was the last chapter! Thanks to everyone for reading!!! I have already started a new idea in my head for the next one. First I have to finish Friends though.


	16. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I didn't plan on this, but I got a request from scarletcantley to add an epilogue of a future reunion. I thought it was a good idea. So here it is. There you go children, ask and you shall receive….eventually.

Rory sighed as she stared at herself in the mirror. She kept turning and sighing, then she'd turn a different way and sigh. Finally, Tristan thought it was time to step in.

"Ror, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Are you kidding?" She asked, pointing at her stomach. "I'm a freaking blimp. I look horrible in everything I try, nothing fits!" She frustratedly cried as she threw a hanger on the bed. "I don't want to go." She said.

"Then we won't go." Tristan said, reaching to take off his tie. "We'll stay at home."

"But you want to go." Rory said, knowing it was true.

"Not if you aren't going to enjoy yourself. I just thought it would be nice to get out of the house for a night, and considering you did help plan the thing and you were the VP of the class…" he stopped talking. "If you want to stay in, we'll stay in." He said simply. Eight months of living with a pregnant wife and he had learned the art of diplomacy. His stubborn will had disappeared and he acquiesced to whatever she requested.

"You had to go and get me pregnant." Rory blamed him for this whole situation. Tristan smiled. "You ruined my body, you know. I'm never going to be able to wear any of this stuff ever again."

"I think you'll be fine."

"No I won't. I'm going to be fat and swollen forever." She was on a roll tonight with the pouting, not that Tristan could really blame her. It was July and she was eight and a half months pregnant.

"Forever?"

"Yes, and after that, I'm going to get saggy." She said, finally sitting down on the bed.

"After forever?" Rory shot him a look that could shatter glass so Tristan decided it was time to keep his mouth shut. "Look, I know how hard this is for you, but you have to look at the positive side for one second. You have a person inside of you." He said, touching her stomach. "And in a few weeks, you're going to be a mother to this little kid. And when that happens, you get to spend the next fifty years torturing it however you please." Rory smiled.

"That is true." She admitted. "I'm sorry I've been such a pain in the ass lately." She said. "Do me a favor. Go out tonight, see your friends, drink enough to forget how annoying I've been lately. I'm just going to stay home and watch a movie or something."

"I'll stay." Tristan said. "It's not a big deal."

"No, you should really go. You'd have so much more fun without me." Tristan knew he should stay home, but he really needed to get out of this house.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

OOOOO

"Okay. I'll have my cell phone on me the whole time in case you need anything." Tristan said one more time.

"Good, now go play and have fun!"

"Bye." He said with a kiss. She watched as he walked out of the house and she turned her attention to the TV. She had netflixed some movies, but she didn't feel up to watching them right now. She flipped through the channels and nothing was on. This was not her night. She picked up the phone to call her mother and complain to her, but Lorelei wasn't answering. She sighed and rested her hands on her stomach. The little one kicked her hand and she smiled. Tristan was convinced that she was harboring a soccer star who would be famous one day.

"Ice cream. I agree." Rory said to her stomach. She got up, found her keys, and was out the door.

OOOOO

Tristan came home from the reunion relatively early. While he had enjoyed himself, it felt wrong to be there without Rory. The lights were out in the kitchen, a sure sign that Rory had already gone to bed. He glanced at the microwave. It was only ten. She must have really needed to sleep. Hopefully she would be in a better mood tomorrow. He made his way up the stairs to the bedroom and smiled as he found Rory. She was still in the same clothes that she had worn that day. She looked as if she had just collapsed for a nap and never woken up. An empty ice cream container sat next to her on the bedside table. He quietly walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Tris?" She muttered, but he had already turned the water on in the bathroom and couldn't hear her. She felt it again and put her hand on her stomach. So much for eating ice cream and going to bed, her heart burn was terrible. She sat up and put her pillow behind her, trying to find a more comfortable position. Deciding she should probably take something, she waddled her way to the bathroom to find the heartburn medication in the medicine cabinet. Upon hearing the door open, Tristan turned his attention to his wife.

"How are you feeling?" He asked over the rushing water.

"Heart burn." She said. "It's bad this time." She took a pill out and swallowed it down with a glass of water. Tristan turned the shower off and grabbed a towel from the wall. He wrapped it around himself and stepped out onto the rug. As he watched his wife grip the counter, he immediately looked at her stomach.

"Are you having contractions?" He asked her. She shook her head, but he walked over and felt her stomach anyway. "Are you sure?"

"I think I would know if I were in labor, Tristan."

"Okay." He once again resigned himself to her grouchiness and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. Rory didn't follow. After putting on his pajamas and sitting down on the bed, he heard her.

"Tris," She said, wanting him to join her in the bathroom again. He got out of bed and walked over to her. "I'm in labor." She said, glancing to the floor where her water had just broken. Tristan, for all of his training, just stood there looking at her. "Well, you're the doctor. Do something." She begged.

"Right!" He said, getting his act together. "Let's go!"

OOOOO

"She's coming right back, don't worry." Tristan rocked his daughter in his arms as he walked around the hospital room.

"Come to mama, baby." Rory said as she returned from the bathroom. She laid her gently on her shoulder and sat back down on the bed.

"We've got to come up with a name for this kid. If I hear one more of Lorelei's Dirty Dancing references I'm going to lose my mind."

"It's only been a few hours."

"Well Baby won't fit forever." He said.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Her first name is going to be Lorelei, right?" Rory nodded. "Of all the options, I like Madison best."

"Lorelei Madison DuGray." Rory grinned. "What do you think, Maddie?" She asked.

"We have a name?" Lorelei said as she entered the room. "Her name is Maddie?"

"Meet your granddaughter, Lorelei Madison DuGray." Tristan said as he wrote it down on the birth certificate. Lorelei fought back the tears as she reached out to hug her son in law.

"You named her Lorelei?"

"Of course." Rory said.

"Welcome to the club, Maddie." She said as she played with the little one's finger. "It's a very big responsibility being a Lorelei. Yes it is. You've got to learn how to drink coffee, and drive your parents crazy, but don't worry. Grandma Lorelei is going to teach you all of these things." Rory smiled and looked at Tristan.

"Hey, how about a picture of the three girls, hmm?" Tristan said, holding up a camera. "Say Lorelei!"

OOOOO

"I know that it's our 30th class reunion, but it's the weekend of Maddie's fifteenth birthday too." Rory said into her phone. "Well, we could go up on Saturday and have the party on Friday night." She paused. "At Mom's on Friday, that way we are already up there for…" She was cut off again. "Well, you tell me a better plan." She waited for his response. "Whatever, let's just think about it and decide later? Okay? Bye." She hung up the phone with a stressed sigh. She knew that she was being ridiculous, she could hear herself being irrational. Between planning this reunion and all of her work and trying to keep up with a fifteen year old daughter and a twelve year old son, both of whom were out of school for the summer, she needed this upcoming break from work. She sighed as the phone rang again.

"New York Times, this is Rory Gilmore." As someone droned on about an article they were working on, she half-listened. "Yeah, just have it on my office by Monday." She told the reporter.

"How's my favorite editor?" Her boss walked into her office with a smile.

"About to have a mental breakdown. Is it important?"

"That depends. Why the mental breakdown?"

"Well, when you have a husband who is a doctor and a daughter who is turning fifteen next week, I'm thankful to still be breathing."

"You're taking a three day weekend next week, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Make it four, spend some time with your family."

"Why are you being so nice to me today?" Rory questioned.

"Because, newspapers are dying faster than we can type up our stories about them, and frankly, I want to keep you here as long as possible."

"I'm not going to abandon you. I know that this job is the last of a dying breed, but I enjoy it. I'm a newspaper woman. I can't help myself. It's in my blood."

"Good. Hey, speaking of blood, is your husband still working at the NYP children's hospital?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you think Sophie could interview him for a piece she's doing on healthcare reform?" Rory shrugged.

"I can ask him. I don't know if he'll have anything to say about it."

"Every source counts." He said as he tapped his finger on her desk. "Have a good afternoon Gilmore."

"You too." She shouted down the hall after him. He waved without turning around. She glanced at the clock. Two more hours before she had to pick up Maddie from soccer. She was definitely going to kill time by doing something unproductive. She opened her email and began sorting through them when the phone rang again.

"Mom?"

OOOOO

When Rory finally arrived to pick up her daughter, she had a big bandage on her leg.

"Mads, what happened?" Rory said, examining her leg.

"Some girl hit me with her cleats. It doesn't really hurt, but it's pretty gross." Maddie had gotten a sports streak from her father. Lorelei claimed that this had nothing to do with any of their genes and must be a freak occurrence.

"I think she might need stitches this time." Her coach said. "We've been watching it for a few minutes, but it's not healing up."

"You know what that means?" Rory said to her daughter.

"Daddy." She got a knowing look on her face. Her father was as protective as any father of a gorgeous, athletic, blonde, fifteen year old daughter would be. Rory whipped out her cell phone and sighed.

"You call, I'll drive."

OOOOO

"I hope he doesn't have a chair waiting." Maddie told her mother. "I don't need a wheel chair."

"Just humor him. This will go a lot easier if you do." They made it up to his floor and were directed towards his makeshift suture room.

"Hey kid." He said as they walked into the room. "Battle scars already?"

"It's not that bad." She tried to convince him. "Really, it looks worse than it is." Rory silently watched as Tristan went into doctor mode and carefully removed the bandage. For some reason, she was suddenly reminded of the day that she brought Gigi into get her cast off. Tristan always had the same focused look when he worked on his patients.

"Oh, Madison." Rory said as she covered her mouth. It was the first time she had seen the wound.

"Yeah, that's going to need some work done." Tristan said as he reached for the anesthesia to numb her leg.

"You better not screw this up, it's your kid we're talking about here." Rory said, protecting her daughter.

"I've done this once or twice Dear." He said with a smile. "You know, this is how I met your mom?" He told his daughter. "Right around this time, twenty years ago."

"We met in Hartford, Aunt Gigi was getting a cast taken off her arm and your dad was the one to do it."

"And it was love at first sight, blah blah blah." Madison said. "I know, I've heard the story like, a thousand times." Tristan smiled at his wife. Twenty years. He couldn't believe it had been that long. It seemed like just yesterday.

"Actually, we met when I was fifteen and I hated his guts. That's a much better version of the story." He never took his eyes off of Madison's leg, but Rory knew that he was listening.

"And just as repeated."

"Hold still Mads…" He said as he started stitching up her leg. Rory couldn't watch. Thankfully, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" She said, exiting the room.

"Mom, can I sleep over at Noah's?"

"Hello Jake, how are you?" Rory said.

"Please?" The twelve year old was too impatient for formalities.

"Is it okay with his parents?"

"Yes."

"Sure, do you need me to bring you some stuff?"

"No, they said that they could stop on the way home so I could pick stuff up."

"Alright. We're at the hospital right now with Daddy, so use the key."

"Okay."

"Have a great night. Call if you need anything."

"Bye." Rory heard the phone slam shut and she sighed.

"All done?" She said, as the two met her in the hallway. Mads nodded from a pair of crutches and started walking to the elevator.

"I told her she had to stay off of it for a couple days." Tristan said, knowing it was a futile argument and that she was probably going to be running on it by then.

"Good luck with that." Rory smiled. "Thanks for fixing her. You're a superhero." She said with a kiss. He groaned at her choice of words. Honestly, while he still hated being called her superhero, he was always glad that he could rescue her from whatever came her way. "Oh, would you be willing to be interviewed for an article about healthcare reform?" She asked.

"Sure, when?"

"I don't know. I just said that I would ask. I'll give Sophie your number." She said, putting a memo in her phone. "What time are you going to be home?"

"Soon. I get off at seven." He said, looking at his watch.

"Okay, Jake is staying at Noah's tonight so I was thinking that we could rent a bunch of movies, wait about thirty seconds for Madison's drugs to kick in and then have the evening to ourselves." Tristan smiled.

"I could bring home dinner from Luciano's."

"Sounds great." She said. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." He said, watching her walk down the hallway. She paused and quickly turned around. "Forget something?" Surprised that he was still standing where she had left him, she walked back towards him.

"Were you watching me walk away?" She said, a sense of power overcoming her features.

"Maybe." He shrugged, refusing to give anything away.

"I forgot my purse."

"Maddie took it with her." Rory nodded. She looked around and pulled him into the room once more for a deep kiss. Tristan pulled away, surprised by her actions.

"What was that for?" He said, still holding onto her hips.

"That was for this morning on the phone." She said, feeling bad that she snapped at him. "And this…" she said as she kissed him again, "is just because I can." He smiled. "Hurry home." She smirked before leaving the room. Tristan chuckled and shook his head. What he had done to get this girl to marry him was beyond him, but he was so thankful that she did.


End file.
